Many of you who follow my existence will have noticed that my eldest daughter, Lucy, hit the significant milestone of her 18th Birthday. She has and continues to have great fun. When school resumes next week, the intensity ramps up and the pathway to those important examinations start in earnest. Watching the British teams competing in Europe this week, in their first leg fixtures, had the same feel; it has been absorbing to observe.
If you truly love football the way I do, with the emphasis on technique, strategy, execution, decision-making, timing and true brilliance, the Champions League is the place to be. If you can watch it live, as I have, on numerous occasions, you appreciate that only the very best can succeed. This is not a place for chancers, mavericks or the ill-disciplined. It's like a great test series for cricketers; for all the bluster about "Baz-Ball" if the bowlers cannot bowl line and length, or the batsmen sorted out their footwork, no amount of courage or swagger will fool anyone. Arsenal and Manchester City were exhaustively tested this week by two teams with an unmatched pedigree in European football; Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Until Tuesday night, Arsenal were, in my opinion, easing towards the Premier League title. Their performances had been superior in every department, particularly their defending. Unlike last year everything was on message, thorough, unflustered and at times ruthless. Then came Bayern Munich, masters of top-drawer ringcraft, connoisseurs of the big occasion cantering through North London with all the imperious pomp and majesty of European royalty. As Handel's "Zadok the Priest" blasted through the speakers at the Emirates Stadium, this felt like the equivalent of an intense Oxbridge Viva-Voce, or the final interview for a life-changing corporate position in a world-leading financial bank. We held our breath, and the eternally fidgety Mikel Arteta employed his substitutes to great effect, and Arsenal competed superby throughout. To many uninformed onlookers, 3-3 at home may feel like a setback but the reality that Arsenal are still be "in the tie" demonstrates how far they have progressed from the 5-1 drubbing they suffered the last time they faced the Germans in London. Next week, the Allianz Stadium will provide yet another thoroughly authentic and distinctly uncomfortable inquisition but unlike Manchester United back in September, the Gunners understand their narrative and have acquired the ability to dig deep and believe. I have cleared my diary...
Regarding Manchester City, I overheard conversations about how many they would win by; Really?! And then the game started and the reality of facing Vinicius Junior, our very own Jude Bellingham and the magic feet of Federico Valverde alongside the wily old-stagers of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos with Antonio Rudiger bullying Erling Haaland like an lippy underage drinker in a city nightclub. With their own expensively assembled line-up of stars, this was a perfect match-up that ebbed and flowed. What was most captivating was that City for significant periods didn't command the ball; an experience that manager Pep Guardiola explained would have emotionally destroyed them in past match-ups. The art of competing and succeeding regularly in this environment, was something Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson never truly mastered, as Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane and Gary Neville alluded to in an edition of the brilliant YouTube series of "The Overlap." For all the collective brilliance of their squad, they lacked the DNA to become serial winners in these situations; succumbing mentally far too often to Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Like Arsenal's tie, this game is there to be won but this is a contest that will hinge on the smallest of details.
As the clocks move forward, Spring is emerging and countless students are preparing for the brutal procession of academic examinations. Next week, when the final whistles are blown in Munich and Manchester, we will be better informed about the integrity of the unforgiving journey in the pursuit of excellence for both these superb teams. As I already said, the diary is cleared!
