Finishing first in the group stage of this season’s Uefa Champions League may not bring the usual benefits.
With one matchday still to go, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are three of the sides currently occupying second spot in their respective segments, which makes them potential opponents for the eight table-toppers in the round of 16.
Arsenal are another of the outfits who look set to advance as runners-up, but the fact that they are likely to avoid Bayern and either Madrid or Borussia Dortmund – the pair will meet at the Santiago Bernabeu in two weeks’ time – is not necessarily cause for celebration.
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have already made sewn up leadership of their sections, while Juventus are almost certain to do the same next month. Add in Madrid or Dortmund and the cast of group winners who Arsenal could face in the next round – they will finish second as long as Paris Saint-Germain defeat Ludogorets as expected – does not make for particularly positive reading.
There is no great shame in Arsene Wenger's men being behind PSG by virtue of an inferior head-to-head record after two draws between the sides – 1-1 in the French capital in September and 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
There should, however, be a sense of regret at what could have been. After being comprehensively outplayed by Unai Emery’s charges at the Parc des Princes, Arsenal made life far too easy for their opponents this time around. Wenger had called on his players to make a “statement” against the Ligue 1 champions, but this performance was anything but.
A wayward Laurent Koscielny pass within 18 seconds set the tone for Arsenal’s first-half showing, which was sloppy in the extreme. There was a lack of intensity to the hosts’ play both in and out of possession, with opposition midfielders Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Grzegorz Krychowiak afforded ample time and space to go about their business.
The first goal was a perfect example of Arsenal’s puzzling passivity: after 19 previous PSG passes, Motta was allowed to amble through the centre of the pitch and deliver a fine through-ball into the path of Blaise Matuidi, whose low cross was converted by Edinson Cavani at the back post.
There was a clear improvement after the break as the visitors were made to work for the first time, but Wenger’s side became rather flat again after an unfortunate Verratti own goal had given them a 2-1 lead. They were later made to pay for such a lacklustre approach, Lucas Moura heading past David Ospina to level the scores in the 77th minute and condemn the Premier League side to second place with one game to go.
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“You have to consider two things: the intensity we put in and the result,” Wenger said. “Tonight my concern is that we were 2-1 up and allowed them to come back at us. It’s difficult to understand how easy we gave away a goal at a corner.
“We had good spells in the game but we could not dominate. We lack something in our creativity but we got a point. It might not be enough but you never know.”
It is understandable that the 67-year-old was keen to seek out the positives and Arsenal have at least shown resilience in recent draws with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and PSG despite being nowhere near their best on each occasion.
Ultimately, though, they did not do enough against the type of European heavyweight who they will have to beat if Group A’s probable runners-up are to go all the way in the Champions League this year.
Arsenal’s fate is now in the hands of Uefa’s draw-makers. It could go either way.
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