Arsenal Qualify for Champions League In Entertaining Game Against Udinese

What an enjoyable experience it was watching Udinese against Arsenal in the Champions League Qualification match Wednesday night. If only most Champions League group round matches could be as open and attacking as that one.

I was particularly impressed by Arsenal’s display both home and against Udinese. On the Champions League Qualification stage, they look like a completely different team. It’s almost as if playing in the Premier League puts them at a slight psychological disadvantage — at least that’s the impression I get when I see them play in the Premiership.

But Wednesday night we saw a fabulous team performance from Arsenal with several individual players standing out. Most notably, Wojciech Szczesny made a brilliant penalty save. I was also impressed by Tomas Rosicky, who was a ball of energy and creativity in midfield for Arsenal. Theo Walcott had another good game against Udinese as he did in the first leg. And last, but not least, Gervinho was my man of the match. He’s playing without fear and seems to enjoy taking players on during one-on-one situations which is refreshing to see.

Congratulations to Arsenal on qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League. The draw will commence tomorrow when we find out which teams will play in which group.