By Our Correspondent
Arsenal’s recent performance in the Champions League has sparked debate among sports analysts in Awka, Anambra State.
For Jude Atupulazi, a Newspaper Editor,Arsenal lacks a crucial element to win the trophy: guts.
“Yeah, they beat Madrid, but Madrid were already a bad team and would have been beaten by any of the other two remaining teams,” Atupulazi said, downplaying Arsenal’s achievement.
He believes that coming out on top against Barcelona, PSG, and Inter will be a tough challenge for Arsenal.
“Arsenal need to be beasts to start winning trophies. Fancy football isn’t enough, as Barcelona found out last night,” Atupulazi added.
He predicts Inter Milan will be too strong for Arsenal, citing Inter’s brutality against Barcelona.
“If Arsenal somehow manage to beat PSG, which I doubt, they’ll be mauled by Inter. In fact, it will be an easier game for Inter than theirs against Barca because Arsenal are a weaker version of Barca.”
Atupulazi concluded, “Sans their lack of guts, Arsenal would have been strong candidates to win this cup.
I’m tipping mental monsters, Inter Milan, for the cup. You can do all the fine play, but they’ll do the main business which is scoring and winning.
“They bullied Barca over two legs in brutal fashion. It will certainly take a lot more than skills to stop the Inter machine.”
However, Patrick Anaso, Chairman of Sports Writers Association (SWAN), Anambra Chapter, has a different view.
He believes Arsenal have peaked with their win against Real Madrid.
“Arsenal have peaked in this contest with the resounding trouncing of favourites, Real Madrid,” Anaso said.
While he hopes they’ll progress, he expects PSG to win, cautioning against excessive optimism to avoid disappointment.
“Expecting them to gundown PSG and moving to the final will be an unjustifiable piling of pressure on them and taking their luck too far.
“But if at the end, they advance, I will celebrate them. I expect their supporters to be conservative in their hopes to avoid extreme disappointment. I hope they progress but I expect PSG to win,”Anaso stated.
