Arsenal and the "home sickness"
(Baonghean.vn) - In the second leg of the Europa League knockout match, Arsenal surprisingly lost to Ostersunds with a score of 1-2. Fortunately, this defeat did not affect the ticket to the next round of coach Wenger and his team.
In football, especially in knockout matches, home ground always plays an important role in the final result of the match. Normally, teams will play better on their own “holy ground” than when playing away at the opponent’s “den”. Yet Arsenal failed to show that.
The 1-2 defeat at Emirates Stadium against small opponent Ostersunds was the 6th consecutive defeat of the "gunners" in the knockout round of European cups (Champions League, Europa League). This is a sad record for Arsenal.
The failure to take advantage of home ground has always forced Arsenal to stop early in the Champions League over the years, even though they have been rated higher than their opponents many times. It seems that every time they enter the knockout round, Emirates Stadium becomes an invisible barrier for the feet of Coach Wenger's students. They were not only defeated by Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but even weaker opponents like Monaco and Ostersunds easily left London with a victory.
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| Arsenal players were disappointed after losing 1-2 to Ostersunds. Photo: Internet |
Take the recent match against Ostersunds for example. In the first leg in Sweden, Arsenal did not have to spend much effort to still win a resounding 3-0 victory. It only took 58 minutes, Monreal, Sotiris's own goal and Ozil's goal helped the "gunners" put one foot in the next round.
Seeing Arsenal's superiority in the first leg, no one believed that Wenger's team would have any trouble in the rematch at Emirates Stadium. Simply, Arsenal were overwhelming in every aspect compared to the visitors Ostersunds.
However, things did not go as fans expected. When the first half had just reached the 23rd minute, the Emirates team had conceded 2 goals (an own goal by Calum Chambesrt and a goal by Ken Sema). Many Arsenal fans thought of a dark future for the home team. Fortunately, the timely brilliance of defender Kolasinac in the 47th minute helped Arsenal avoid another tragedy.
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| Last year was a 1-5 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League knockout round. Photo: Internet |
The narrow 1-2 defeat to Ostersunds, although not causing Wenger and his team to be eliminated early from the Europa League, once again confirmed: Arsenal still plays poorly at the Emirates in the knockout rounds of European cups.
If the North London team cannot break the "curse" in the upcoming matches, don't expect to win the Europa League title in the 2017-2018 season. Opponents like Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Dortmund... are far superior to Ostersunds.
To qualify for the Champions League next season (winning the Europa League this year), coach Wenger needs to find a solution to help Arsenal make the most of their home advantage. It seems that Arsenal’s “home advantage” disease is not easy to cure./.
