Arsenal's interest in the Champions League, and European football altogether, could be ended this evening if results in Group F don't go their way. If the Gunners, currently bottom of their group, are to stay in the competition they must beat visitors Dinamo Zagreb while hoping Bayern Munich take three points from Olympiakos at the Allianz Arena.
Any other scenario and Arsenal's 15-season run of qualifying for the knockout phase of the Champions League (a sequence bettered only by Real Madrid) will be over. Elimination would further antagonise the Arsenal faithful who, according to at least one Gooners blog, are angrier than ever right now.
Defeat would see the Gunners confirmed as the bottom club in the group and tumble out of Europe altogether, without the consolation of Europa League football.
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Arsenal have won just once in their last five matches, and among the defeats were the 3-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup and the 5-1 thrashing at Bayern Munich. Saturday's ignominious defeat to West Bromwich was no way to prepare for tonight's crucial encounter, and though Arsenal are just two points behind Premier League leaders Leicester that's more a reflection of the sorry state of English football than the quality of the Gunners.
But what riles Arsenal fans above else is the latest injury crisis. The casualty list is too long to list here but with Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta the latest additions, Arsenal may be forced to field Aaron Ramsey against Zagreb. The Welshman hasn't played a competitive game since sustaining a hamstring injury in mid-October but with Arsenal stripped of midfield options because of injury Wenger may have little choice.
Yet the Frenchman shouldn't find himself in this position. Arsenal fans spent the whole summer begging their manager to strengthen the midfield but Arsene always knows best, and Arsene made just one purchase in the summer market, signing Petr Cech from Chelsea. And then what did Wenger do? He omitted Cech from the side to play Olympiakos, opting instead for David Ospina. He had a shocker, gifting the Greeks the simplest of goals, and as a result Arsenal are on the brink of elimination.
Asked on Monday about the midfield injury crisis, Wenger told reporters: "It is, of course, a disappointment... but we have in the squad the players who can compensate. We have players who play in this position, like Mathieu Flamini."
When it was put to Wenger - "with all due respect to Mathieu Flamini" - that he might now regret not having signed "a player like Morgan Schneiderlin" over the summer, the Arsenal manager snapped: "What is your name? I will tell that to Flamini."
Better that someone tells Wenger he's no longer the force he once was.
