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The Champions League last 16 stage has been a chastening experience for the Premier League, with four sides conceding 28 times as they were dumped out and largely embarrassed on European football’s biggest stage<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n\n
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\nMikel Arteta had a very different week to his Premier League counterparts – Arne Slot excepted<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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What a week it’s been for the cream of English football. Failing to rise to the top – having rendered the art of defending extinct.<\/p>\n
Over two legs in the last 16 of the Champions League, Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea lost by a combined aggregate score of 28-11. Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle all conceded five goals or more in one of the legs. Newcastle were humiliated in the Non Camp, letting in seven.<\/p>\n
How City managed to limit Real Madrid to a 5-1 triumph on aggregate is anyone’s guess. Vinicius Junior should have scored a hat-trick inside five mad minutes at the Etihad this week.<\/p>\n
Over two legs, Arsenal conceded just one goal to Bayer Leverkusen. And guess what? They made it through to the quarter finals.<\/p>\n
The same Arsenal team which has been accused of being one of the dullest in top flight history. A side sucking the joy out of football. Try telling that to supporters come the end of the season, when Mikel Arteta and his squad will be staging an open top bus parade around north London.<\/p>\n
Previous generations of Arsenal supporters had a famous chant of “1-0, to the Arsenal”. It was during the days of George Graham, when Arsenal won trophies for fun.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Chelsea and Newcastle told they should be ‘banned from Champions League’ in dramatic rant<\/span><\/span>READ MORE: UEFA want talks with Premier League bosses to help reduce growing VAR frustration<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe modern game expects teams to bring the ball out from the back. For goalkeepers to be an extension of the defence – and be good with their feet. To sweep through the press and score goals made on the training ground. But the skill of stopping them appears to have become neglected.<\/p>\n
The great Pep Guardiola realised this in January and signed Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace. But the move came too late. Guehi didn’t even start this week’s second leg against Real, and City were ripped to shreds from the kick off. It’s beyond strange, from someone regarded as the greatest manager of all time.<\/p>\n
Arsenal have scored one more goal than City in the league this season. But this isn’t the reason they are now in pole position to go on and be crowned champions. This will happen because Arteta’s men have conceded six fewer than City.<\/p>\n
Strikers win games – but defenders win titles. Plain and simple.<\/p>\n
FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE!<\/strong> Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\nOPINION<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
John Cross<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\nAston Villa are fourth in the table and on course to secure Champions League qualification – but have a goal difference of just plus three. Brentford are seventh with a goal difference of just plus four.<\/p>\n
One Sky Sports pundit tried to insist that those embarrassed in the last 16 were done so because of the quality of the Premier League and a tiredness factor. Absolute rubbish. They were destroyed because they didn’t do the dirty parts of the game anywhere near well enough.<\/p>\n
Remember when Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle were locked in a battle with Manchester United to win the title all those years ago? Keegan’s attitude appeared to be that if his opponents scored three, Newcastle would score four. United went on to win the title.<\/p>\n
Arsenal might be a bit dull and boring. But Arteta has focused on showing respect to the basics every single game demands. And the chances are it will bring him huge rewards in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Others should swallow their pride and learn from the Spaniard. And I include his mentor, Guardiola, in this.<\/p>\n
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Sky<\/p>\n
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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025\/26 season, saving \u00a3336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.<\/p>\n
Sky shows at least 215 live Premier League games each season, an increase of up to 100, plus Formula 1, darts, golf and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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