The story was basically this.

Arsenal played 4 halves of football against AC Milan, over two legs, over two weeks. They dominated each one of those, and in the 4th half, they scored 2 goals. Think of it as superiority paying off.

"We're on our way, we're on our way,
We're going to Moscow, we're on our way,
How we get there we don't know!
How we get there we don't care!
All we know is that we're on our way!"

It was a cold night at the San Siro, and with near 5,000 of us packed high up into the away end at the San Siro, we needed to be in good voice and good spirits to keep warm. The atmosphere of the San Siro was eventually slightly overrated, the Milan fans made a bit of noise pre-kickoff, unleashed a whole bunch of glitter and cheers as the game started, had a few bouts of whistling, and went absolutely crazy for about 3 or 4 seconds right at the start when Kaka did a trick. Otherwise, they were mostly a passive bunch, and got quieter and quieter as the saw Arsenal take control. The euphoria for us of Cesc's goal was met by a steady flow of Milan fans making way for the exits.

The Arsenal dominated Milan on the pitch, and the Arsenal fans dominated Milan fans in the stands, and you can't say that victory for either was undeserved.

There have been enough details about the game all across newspapers and the web for me to not bother too much with details, but the team was just outstanding. Manu Eboue was the only lacklustre performer, seeming more mentally uninvolved than anything else - wasting the ball, avoiding tackles, and running lazily. He dived, and was fortunate to not be severely punished when badly fouling Paolo Maldini. Even Abou Diaby, he of recently lazy form, stepped up his game to an acceptable level.

Milan were disappointing really - although Flamini had Kaka in his pocket (and Cesc made sure he put him back in there whenever he popped his head out), the Brazilian didn't really know what to do or where to go. As a result he tried to go it alone, and with young Pato confused, and Pippo Inzaghi having one of his more primadonna-esque games, he failed to have an impact.

They missed Seedorf, yes, but I'm not sure that Milan could have put out a better side with this squad that they have. It's far too aged and predictable, and they will really be doing some serious shopping this summer. They lack dynamism, and need a bit of freshness.

Pato will of course be a big plus for them, he was their best attacker on the night, and at 18 he already has the ability to compete, all he lacks is the experience.

For Arsenal, it will be a huge boost after a bad Novemeber. They are only a point clear at the top now, and will need to refocus now; the win in Milan will have given them the belief to do that.

Of course, the big challenge now is to go to Wigan and win on Sunday. On Tuesday, Arsenal outplayed and outfought a Milan side on a great pitch with great players who had to attack to win. On Sunday, Arsenal will have to play a Wigan side on a simply awful pitch, against some dodgy players who will be fighting to not lose. It will involve a fair amount of steel, patience, and tactical flexibility. Nicklas Bendtner might have a role to play, since Arsenal will need to seriously consider the direct route - through balls, and little one-two passes are going to be disrupted by the rough surface and the (possibly) rough tackling.

They can possibly lose just one more game this season, and draw two at the maximum, without losing the title - even those estimates are probably a bit generous.

Arsenal are supposed to be going to Il Duomo this afternoon, so I'll be rushing there soon to see if I can catch them.

Arsenal fans have been out in the top tiers on the South End of the San Siro, and with my ticket in hand, I'm looking forward to game and the atmosphere.

The big team news is that Van Persie is in the squad, but obviously won't be close to starting fitness, expect to see him if we are in desperate need of a goal, an injury situation, a great counter-attacking situation, or if we are winning 6-0 and want to give him a bit of a run out. Hmmmm.

It would have been nice to have Rosicky back for this game, but he's injured (as usual).

Arsenal really need to do well here to give themselves a pick-me-up. They're still top of the league by a point, but the form has been badly patchy. It's like their November has come in February, and it's included the 0-0 from the first leg, 2-2 with Brum, 1-1 with Villa, 0-4 to Man United and the 1-5 Carling Cup debacle with Spurs. Wins are required now, and tonight is the perfect occasion for the boys to show what they're made of.

As for Milan, they have all their players fit, although there's a doubt over Clarence Seedorf. They will be more attacking tonight, giving Arsenal a bit more space perhaps, but also posing a lot more questions for the Gunners' defence, something which they almost entirely failed to do in the first leg.

So that's that then, more updates from after the game, and hopefully some pictures, but keep your fingers crossed!

Arsenal were buzzing tonight. Their movement and passing were as precise as they've ever been this season., and were it not for Emmanuel Adebayor having an off-day (and Eduardo not doing much better), they would and should have had a two goal advantage going into the second leg.

Against Blackburn, Ade had a shocker, but came up with a late goal. Today against Milan, Ade was slightly less shocking (only just), but failed to score, somehow putting a header against the crossbar from point blank range after a great cross from Theo Walcott. This was in the 93rd minute of the game, and it ensured that Arsenal would get no reward for there endeavour.

His other contribution (or lack thereof) was a simple square pass to Fabregas, who was unmarked and right in front of the 'keeper, which he overhit. The ball went frustratingly away from Cesc's run, and deprived us of what would very likely have been a goal.

And what endeavour it was! Flamini was bossy and tidy, Hleb ran and dribbled all over the pitch, and Cesc produced some pinpoint balls. The interplay between the three was especially magical to watch, and they were complemented well by the overlapping Sagna and Clichy.

The defence was excellent overall, perhaps not as impressive as Milan's, but enough to keep Kaka, Pato and Seedorf completely quiet. Toure had to go off early injured, but Senderos came on and had a stormer.

Theo had a nice cameo, running at the tired Milan defence, and Bendtner caused some troubles with his height and touch.

Milan's lack of ambition was surprising. Arsenal outplayed them, no questions asked, but apart from Pato's attempts, there was very little else. Kaka was largely anonymous, apart from a few threatening crosses, and Seedorf was very, very deep the entire game. They should have been playing for an away goal, and Arsenal will be kicking themselves at having dominated a defensive team, but not having scored.

Well, I suppose this all makes it more exciting for yours truly! I've got my hands on an away ticket to the San Siro, so it's going to be a tense encounter there! 

A lot of Arsenal fans are quite happy with the Milan draw. I am too, but because it's going to be a good contest, with brilliant football and matchups, NOT because I think it will be a walkover like others fans seem too. It's a great chance for Arsenal to progress, because playing against a defensive team would be harder, but a lot of people have this perception of AC Milan as being full of "ageing old man" and a one-man-team based on Kaka.

People seem to easily overlook Andrea Pirlo in any mentions, but he's the most important player for them. Kaka is replaceable, and they can win without him, but not without Pirlo. The key is the Kaka-Pirlo-Seedorf trio, because they are constantly operating together all over the pitch. They are not as much of a one-man team as everyone is making them out to be. Kaka and Seedorf drag defenders all over the place, and rarely lose the ball even when under pressure, and Inzaghi is always there waiting to move into the space they create. Gilardino is finally playing well consistently too.

As for Kaka, even though I don't think Milan are a one man team, he's still their best shot at winning matches, and can do so on his own. Arsenal don't have anyone like that in the squad, who can just turn it on and take on the opposition like Thierry Henry used to, so everybody has to be playing well. Let's hope they are.

Milan aren't playing that well, and they generally don't create that many chances, but they have players like Inzaghi, Ronaldo, Kaka and Seedorf on the end of them, and those guys don't miss. Arsenal create loads of chances, but have Adebayor, Hleb, and Rosicky frustratingly missing most of them. Cesc is more clinical this season, but Robin Van Persie will be crucial.

Also, Ronaldo will be fit and ready by then - you can never rule him out, and don't forget about Pato... he is eligible from Jan 3rd onwards, and even though he's still quite raw, he's got amazing natural ability. I saw him play in only his 7th or 8th start for Internacional, and he completely tore Carles Puyol to pieces.

As for Gattuso, he's got a reptuation for being a nutter and a hardman ni midfield, but he's really not that physical. The Premiership offers much tougher tests, and he gets more of a reputation for that than he should, probably because he's such an oddity for an Italian/Serie A player. I was never a big fan of his, but he's worked hard on his game, and his ability to foul tactically is tremendous. Physically, his main asset is the non-stop running, which I guess is Flamini's as well, but Gattuso is much quicker than Flam, and so can press harder and faster. They also play with two defensive midfielders, and Ambrosini is definitely the stronger of the two. If Emerson plays I think Arsenal will take over the midfield, because he's completely past it.

Milan's main weakness is that fact that they don't have any fullbacks. Jankulovski and Oddo are clueless, but love going forward. Maldini and Bonera are basically centrebacks, and are on the slower side. Ancelotti has this really bizarrely weird habit of only playing them in pairs, so it will either be Maldini and Bonera, or Oddo and Jankulovski. They are still class in the centre of defence, but Kaladze has his dodgy moments. Adebayor will be key against them.

Ultimately Arsenal's main strength will be pace, especially with the fullbacks. Even with Jankulovski and Oddo bombing forward, those guys aren't super quick, and Milan don't attack with as much pace (Kaka excepted). I think that's always been Wenger's strength against the Italian teams, especially when he lets them attack with their slow buildup and then massacres them on the counters.

I think Arsene's record against Italian teams so far (post Wembley) is: P 10, W 5, D 3, L 2

That's home wins against Juventus (x2) and Lazio, and wins away to Inter and Roma. The draws were away to Lazio, where we were unlucky to conede an own goal, away to Juve when we had already won 2-0 at Highbury in the first leg, and a really poor 1-1 home draw to Roma after Totti had been sent off. The losses were of course the 3-0 at home to Inter, and the 1-0 away to Juve where we were virtually out of the group stage already, and Thierry Henry missed a penalty.

That's only 3 bad showings in 10 games, and all of those were in the group stages. Arsenal have won all their knockout stage ties against Italian sides, so the signs are good.

Well Arsenal ended their unbeaten run of 28 games in all competition in Spain tonight, losing 3-1 to Sevilla. The referee was not great, and gave a free-kick to them that was never a free-kick, and which also resulted in the second goal. Even worse than the referee though, was Philippe Senderos, who single-handedly tried to hand Sevilla the match with clearances and decision of such severe incompetence that he almost made one long for Alex Song. Almost as bad, was Fredi Kanoute, whose finishing was just god-awful. He should have at least scored a brace, if not a hat-trick, and the scoreline really should have been 4-1 or 5-1 to Sevilla.

I suppose there are some "positives" to take from the game, for both sets of fans.

For Sevilla - well they will have restored some pride, and can look forward to being the group winners. They avenged their 3-0 loss in London, and looked once again like the team that was so sensational last season, and are continuing to come out of the shadows of the sad death of Antonio Puerta, and the sudden departure of coach Juande Ramos to Tottenham. Luis Fabiano continued his good form, and Jesus Navas was especially mesmerising towards the latter stages of the game.

And for the Arsenal? Well this was as good a game to lose as any. They've lost in a somewhat meaningless game to one of Europe's best teams. They've lost badly, and it's broken their unbeaten run, but it's without detriment to their progress into the next phase in the Champions League, and it would have had far worse effects in the league. Let's face it - they would have lost sooner or later, and it's better that it happened now so that they can address their shortcomings, rather than later, because there won't be a game this unimportant for a while.

Also, let's also take into account the fact that they played with three second choice defenders - Hoyte was average, Senderos awful, and Traore lost (but promising), and three second choice midfielders - Denilson was OK but ineffective, Gilberto was OK but made scary errors, and Eboue was exciting but wildly wasteful. And upfront, they were missing first choices Adebayor and Van Persie, with Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo making their first starts in this competition. Eduardo was somewhat wasted out on the left, but did well for his goal, which was set up by the young Dane Bendtner.

So a side shorn of their top scoring strikers (Ade and RvP), captain (Gallas), most influential ball winner (Flamini) and most influential attacking midfielder (Hleb) lost to a full-strength Sevilla side.

It's not the end of the world. 

As you all know by now, Arsenal absolutely demolished Slavia Prague on Tuesday. 7 goals, 6 of them were top, top quality, and the football, control and composure on displays were pure class. It was Arsenal's third 7-0 win in the last 4 years, and the Gunners' biggest win in Europe.

It was great to see this new, young team really explode, and stability has really been the key factor. They've all had about 2-3 years of playing together now, and there are options and fluidity in every position. Some of the goals were just stunning, particularly both of Cesc's. You can see all the goals here:

1-0 Cesc Fabregas
2-0 Hubacek o.g.
3-0 Theo Walcott
4-0 Aliaksandr Hleb
5-0 Theo Walcott
6-0 Cesc Fabregas
7-0 Nicklas Bendtner

Hleb was absolutely outstanding all game long, Walcott showed us what he's capable of, Adebayor was a bit useless, but worked hard as always, and everyone else was solid and strong. Eboue is still a bit uncomfortable/wasteful on the wing, but did fantastic well to set up the 7th goal, which Bendtner did showed great resolve to tuck away.

So it's quite a confidence boost ahead of Sunday's big matchup against Liverpool, who along with Arsenal are the only two undefeated teams in the Premiership. Although in many ways, because Slavia were such poor opposition, it wasn't the greatest preparation. Liverpool will be much, much tougher opposition, and will be looking to prove a point after losing to Besiktas yesterday in the Champions League. It's also reaching that stage of the season where they have dropped a lot of points, and they will need to start winning consistently now, especially against the big teams, since they have to claw back points to make up the difference.

Fernando Torres was missing against Besiktas, but will likely be back for Sunday, and no one can really predict what kind of tinkering Benitez will do with the rest of the side. Crouch scored a hattrick against Arsenal last year, so it's quite possible that he will partner Torres.

As for the Gunners, well Van Persie is still missing, and there are doubts over Eduardo. As good and exciting as Theo Walcott was against Slavia, the Liverpool defence are far, far superior, and 4-5-1 is probably the best way to go for this game - Adebayor up front on his own, with Hleb, Fabregas, and Rosicky/Eduardo supporting from deeper positions. Walcott would be a good substitute coming on against tired legs, especially against Sami Hyypia.

They key points will of course be the performances of Gallas and Toure, and how Liverpool deal with Cesc. The two centrehalves were absolutely hammered by Crouch last season, and they will need to do better this year. As for Cesc, well everything good runs through him (and Hleb of course, and Rosicky when he plays), but with options like Sissoko and Mascherano, Benitez will be looking to limit the amount of time and possession that he gets. This is where Flamini becomes important, because he battles and snaps into tackles, and gives Cesc fantastic support. I have a feeling we might see Diaby in there as well, giving an additional option in the centre.

This is the first real test for Arsenal, and they must get it right.

A professional counter-attacking performance from Arsenal saw them prevail 1-0 in a tough away fixture in Romania. Robin Van Persie scored the only goal of the game with 15 minutes left to play, absolutely hammering a left-shooted shot from Emmanuel Adebayor's square pass across the face of goal.

The interesting statistic in this game was that although Steaua had a fair share of the possession, the Gunners had 21 shots to Steaua's 7. The win was achieved on the basis of efficient counter-attacking, although you might say that Arsenal were hardly efficient given that despite all the chances that they created, there was only one late goal to show for it. Still, it is an improvement on many of the performances they had last season in the Premiership and in Europe, where they created and wasted countless chances and drew or lost many games as a result. Cesc Fabregas even provided a reminder of those days when he missed an easy chance from about 3 yards out.

Still, this Arsenal looks more purposeful, patient and composed. Alexander Hleb was a darting, menacing presence throughout. Van Persie made life tough for opponents with his aggression and technique, Fabregas was controlling as always, Flamini was busy and "bossy", Kolo Toure was heroic, and Emmanuel Adebayor continued to show his curious duality of being profligate but good at the same time. Senderos had a very good game apart from a few moments, and both fullbacks were very solid (Clichy having a few suspect moments). Eboue looked rusty, but did his job, and Gilberto came on in the second half for him to stem Steaua's attacking pressure. The team always looked confident that the goal would come, and it did, unlike last season where they would start to panic more and more, with desperation creeping into the play.

It could have been quite different though if Steaua had made the most of their chances. First, Manuel Almunia rushed out to head clear, but didn't manage to get too much distance on the header. He was also unlucky that the ball fell to the clever number 10 Dica, who took a touch and lobbed him. However, Captain Kolo was on hand to perfectly anticipate the lob and head it away with Almunia completely stranded - whether the sequence just happened that quickly, or Almunia was ballwatching and didn't get back soon enough, I don't know. Their second chance came when Iacob went clean through on the left-side of the box, opened up his body and curled a far-post shot high and wide of both Almunia and the goal. Perhaps he thought he would try to score a Thierry Henry goal since he was playing against the Arsenal, but it ended up being more Adebayor (on a bad day) than anything else.

And that was about it for the Romanians. They had some clever, technically gifted players, but Arsenal were the superior team, and should have had at least a goal or two more to show for their efforts.

One can't help but feel sad at their disappointment at the end though. Gigi Becali, their mad owner had already said the coach Pedrazzini would be sacked if he couldn't get a result against Arsenal, and the players would all have received £20,000 each as a win bonus, and they must have been devastated by Iacob's missed chance.

Arsenal deservedly beat Bolton 2-1 today at Highmirates, going down early on (as usual) to a Nicolas Anelka goal (as usual) from the opposition's first chance (as usual). But they showed great spirit and good football to equalise and then take the lead just after the restart. Tomas Rosicky scored the equaliser after great work from Emmanuel Adebayor and some not-so-great work from Bolton's right-back/human-celery-stalk Nicky Hunt. Rosicky had looked super up for this from the start, and after taking on the Bolton defence and trying all manner of shots, it was no surprise that he stole in to capitalise on the gangly one's mistake - Hunt tried to chest Ade's cross to their keeper, but didn't sense Tommy sneaking in behind him, and he neatly dispatched the ball past Juskalaineaieiaaaieiein.

The winning goal was a special moment - 44 seconds after the break, Gilberto played a great through ball for Cesc to run on to. "El Matador" took a touch to compose himself, dummied a defender, set himself up and fooled Faye into thinking he would shoot to the far post, and then splendidly placed the ball high into the near post. His first goal since August, and his first Premiership goal this season... the first shot scored in 62 attempts on target!

The joy was all too evident on his face, and he jumped up and down madly for a few minutes before getting back to the task at hand - which was to hang on to the lead and beat Bolton. This was almost blown to bits with the horribly profligate finishing that Arsenal keep showing - About Diaby first missing a clear header on goal, and then completely messing up a one-on-one chance. He first pushed Baptista out of the way when the ball was played through, and then ran at the keeper and weakly shot straight at him when he could have set Baptista up for an easy tap-in.

Then straight down the other end, Eboue horribly handled the ball in the box, but somehow referee Rob Styles styleshly signalled that it was unintentional and ball-to-hand when it clearly wasn't. Sam Allardyce complained afterwards of course, being the insufferably ugly and painful walrus that he is, but on balance of play Arsenal deserved the win, they had 9 shots on goals to Bolton's 2.

The usual defensive problems were all too evident though - Bolton's goal came from a long ball and Kevin Nolan was given all the freedom in the world to head the ball back across goal. Lehman clawed it away, and Anelka opportunistically knocked the rebound in. Oh, and you know that rule about how strikers always score against their former clubs, well it's beginning to piss me off? Anelka with 3 against us since he signed for Bolton, and he had another 3 or 4 when playing for Man City. Annoyance!

Ok, i've had enough of this writing business for the day. I'll sign off, but first I must mention Freddie Ljungberg. He looked committed and threatening all game, but most importantly he seemed to step up a gear and try and drive the team on once we went a goal down. He never let our heads drop, and was important today even if he missed his scoring chances.

Finally... a bit of an oddity/treat. If you're using IE, then highlight the image below with your mouse. If you're not using IE, then use IE for this. Then once you've seen it, please explain it to me:

Manchester United and Chelsea both advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League today. Whilst Arsenal haven't managed to score against either West Ham or Newcastle, United thumped 7 goals past Roma at Old Trafford to win the tie 8-3 on aggregate. Chelsea dominated slightly superior opposition away in Spain, coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 in stoppage time, and 3-2 on aggregate. Gutting stuff really.

Not only that, but assuming they overcome their semi-final opposition, there is the distinct prospect of a Manchester United vs Chelsea Champions League final, and FA Cup final. YUCK!

To add to that, if things stay as close as they are, then Wednesday May 9th might very well see the Premiership title decided in 1 game, when Manchester United play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It's almost like 3 cup finals in a row, and the only thing that could make it worse would be if Spurs reach the UEFA Cup final.

Meanwhile Arsenal, with 2 wins in their last 11 games in all competitions are still trying to figure out how to score a goal and not let the season completely fall to pieces. I don't think a single person is in Wenger's corner anymore, and certainly no one is going to put up with another "The boys have shown tremendeous spirit, and you can see that the quality is there, and they are learning and next season we will see the benefit of that and the team will be much stronger". It's a dangerous game to play, to keep building up the merits of the next season, because too long without success and the entire project will have failed, because the youngsters will want to leave.

Millions of fans around the world aren't paying hard-earned money to see a team be slowly educated, they are doing so to see a challenge take place. The education of youngsters is supposed to be something that's happening in the background. Maybe it's just the frustration of today, and maybe i'm ignoring the big picture, but Arsene has left himself with far too much to do, and unless there is serious rebuilding in the summer, a lot of people will have no faith at all come next season. All deficiences have been clearly exposed this season - the inexperience, the lack of goalscorers, and the lack of effective players - and Arsene Wenger, with his fondness for youngsters, perception that goalscorers aren't important, and penchant for buying technicians, dribblers and passers, is to blame for all of them.

But deep down I think we all still suspect, despite his best efforts to confuse us, that Arsene still knows. Make it happen next season Boss. Please.

1997-1998 The Double - Premiership & FA Cup (beat Newcastle 2-0)
1998-1999 Lost the Premiership on the last day of the season, and threw away an FA Cup semi to Man United)
1999-2000 Uefa Cup final (lost on penalties after missing numerous chances)
2000-2001 FA Cup final (lost to Liverpool 2-1 after Michael Owen scored twice in the last 10 minutes)
2001-2002 The Double - Premiership & FA Cup (beat Chelsea 2-0)
2002-2003 FA Cup (beat Southampton 1-0)
2003-2004 The Unbeaten Season - Won the Premiership without losing a game
2004-2005 FA Cup (beat Manchester United on penalties)
2005-2006 Champions Leage final (lost to Barcelona 2-1 after they scored twice in the last 15 minutes)
2006-2007 Nothing (out of all cup competitions, and in 4th place in the league with 10 games remaining, 20 points off leaders Man United)

That is the story for Arsenal with 10 Premiership games left. It is the first time since Wenger's first full season that we've ended with nothing to play for, and things look quite dire. Yes, the team is young and full of promise, but if we win nothing, then the players will never reach the next level. 20 points off 1st place, and having lost in the Carling Cup final, and been knocked out of the FA Cup, Arsenal went into the second leg of their Champions League tie against PSV 1-0 down from the first. It was the biggest game of their season, and they needed a good win. But despite going ahead 1-0, the game ended 1-1, with PSV going through 2-1 on aggregate. Sad stuff.

Arsenal worked hard and got their goal without ever looking brilliant, but wasted many chances. PSV had nothing from open play, but late on, Hleb gave away a stupid foul, and you just knew that PSV were going to score from the free-kick... and they did. 1-1 on the night, Arsenal now needed 2 because of away goals, an unfit Henry had just come on for Baptista and gotten injured again, and it was all over.

With 10 games to go, Arsenal have nothing to play for except a Champions League spot. So how does Arsene Wenger motivate a bunch of experienced players who are used to challenging, and a group of exceptional, but unproven youngsters whose inexperience and self-doubt might make their season self-destruct? It's tricky, because for the first time in years, Wenger himself is under tremendous pressure, and everyone is doubting his abilities. Other managers have been having a go at him, the FA and referees don't exactly like him at the moment, and this is his 3rd consecutive year of not challenging seriously for the league.

Wenger has always been a more psychological/motivational manager than a tactical one, and he will need to gather all his resources together now. Not qualifying for the Champions League would be 100% distastrous, and could put the club in serious trouble for the future. Arsenal can still take 3rd place from Liverpool (that would at least represent "progress" over last year's 4th place finish), fainter still are hopes of catching Chelsea in second. Also, while the others are playing in the Champions League, Arsenal will have to buckle down and focus on trips to Villa and Everton and the like, and no one knows how the players will respond.

Maybe with the pressure off, they will excel, but maybe with so little to play for, they might find it impossible to motivate themselves, and maybe see a a finished outside of the top 4. Either way, Wenger has a lot to do, and he will no doubt remind the players and fans that they are unbeaten in the league since December, so things are not all bad. Right now the best possible solution is to get behind Wenger and the team and stop criticising or doubting the club, coach or players, because really, it's a very difficult period up ahead.