Paul Fennessy

IT HAS been largely a week to forget for English clubs in the Champions League.

Liverpool may have beaten Bayer Leverkusen comprehensively, but Man City, Aston Villa and Arsenal all suffered chastening defeats on the road.

The Premier League has been widely hailed as the strongest domestic competition in Europe given the vast financial resources at clubs’ disposal compared to elsewhere.

So it is a rare enough occurrence that three English sides are all beaten in the same week in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition.

But Arsenal’s loss to Inter Milan today was perhaps the least surprising of the three results.

It was the Gunners’ first defeat this season in the Champions League but the setback continues a worrying trend under Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal have struggled in recent weeks amid the absence of their primary creative force Martin Odegaard.

Already, the North Londoners have dropped points five times in the Premier League. In four of the last five seasons, the English champions have dropped points in no more than 10 games throughout a campaign.

It is only early November and already they are seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool and facing an uphill task.

Tonight’s match in Milan epitomised Arsenal’s early-season problems.

Under Arteta, they have invariably been solid at the back. They had the best defensive record in the Premier League last season and even with their struggles this year, only three teams have conceded fewer.

But it has been going forward where they have looked most unconvincing.

Without Odegaard, in their last three games before tonight, Arsenal registered just five shots on target — a record inferior to bottom-of-the-table Wolves.

Tonight, they were slightly better in that area — they finished with four shots on target.

⚽ Inter Milan 1-0 Arsenal 🏆
Calhanoglu converts from the spot in first-half injury-time after Merino is penalised for handball. Harshly?
📱 Updates: https://t.co/Li2q0nPUF9
📺 Live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer#ChampionsLeague #INTARS pic.twitter.com/dvjlFrIJ1o

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 6, 2024

But their lack of confidence and attacking fluency remained palpable.

During the first half especially, they created little of note.

The Gunners looked a threat on set pieces — as has been the case for much of the season — but from open play there was a stark lack of invention.

Inter, rode their luck occasionally with a few nervy moments in the second half but ultimately deserved the victory.

But once the hosts went ahead on the brink of half-time, it was a typical Italian footballing performance — they shut up shop, allowed Arsenal to dominate possession and backed their defenders to keep a clean sheet, which duly did without too much fuss or tension.

One of the few positives for the Gunners was the return of Odegaard off the bench in the dying seconds.

The Norwegian completed just one training session ahead of the game, but Arsenal fans will be encouraged to see the inspirational attacking midfielder back playing again.

The talismanic figure is to Arteta’s men what Rodri is to Man City — a player whose absence is much more noticeable than their presence.

City, of course, struggled badly last season on the few occasions that the instrumental Spanish international was unavailable.

This year, the Ballon d’Or winner is out with a long-term injury and Pep Guardiola’s side’s emphatic 4-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon last night was their third defeat on the bounce in all competitions.

The Rodri injury blow is one of the reasons why some critics are starting to believe that it could be Liverpool’s year and that City’s five-in-a-row bid will fall short.

The Reds arguably have the strongest overall squad of the three English title contenders. What makes Arne Slot’s team so impressive is they have arguably no equivalent to Rodri or Odegaard in terms of sheer influence.

Without a Virgil van Dijk or Mo Salah, Liverpool would be weakened but they have so much depth that it’s hard to envisage the Anfield outfit struggling to the same extent as their rivals.

With all the money ploughed into these big Premier League clubs, it is extraordinary to witness how dramatic the effect can be if one important player gets injured.

Except for Real Madrid, you could make a strong case that Arsenal and Man City were the two best sides in Europe last season.

But a couple of injuries have left the once-dominant duo suddenly looking vulnerable.

Part of the problem is surely down to psychology more so than ability.

Even without Rodri and Odegaard, City and Arsenal boast two of the strongest squads in world football.

But so much has been made on the outside about the injuries to their key duo that perhaps even people on the inside can’t help succumbing to the hype and subconsciously blaming all their woes on these injury-enforced absences.

Of course, both are still more than capable of challenging for the title, and City especially have shown remarkable resilience during past run-ins.

But countless elite players look exhausted after a season in which many competed deep into the summer at the Euros.

Guardiola has even suggested the Premier League champions this season will attain a lower tally than the usual 90+ points required to triumph in England.

Whatever happens, there has been cause for concern in recent weeks for the Catalan coach and everyone associated with the reigning champions.

Could their era of dominance finally be coming to an end?