It's Make Or Break For Arsenal As Partizan Belgrade and Man United Loom

Suddenly, it all comes down to this. One fateful week which could well decide Arsenal’s fate after six barren trophy-free years.

On Wednesday night, with their English rivals Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs already qualified, Arsene Wenger’s men must end a run of two successive Champions League defeats by beating Partizan Belgrade at the Emirates to assure their progress to the knock-out stages.

Then it’s off to Manchester United as the Premier League’s top two battle it out for supremacy on Monday night.a

Two defeats, and Wenger will be tearing what’s left of his hair out with impatient fans calling for the German-speaking Frenchman to go. Two wins and all will be rosy for the scarlet-clad Gunners, Wenger will be safe and the bottle-throwing tantrums will subside.

Amid the gloom of Thomas Vermaelen announcing he was out until the end of the year, Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna, he of the beaded hair, volunteered as the Gooner spokesman in this, the week of all weeks for his team.

One of the safest full-backs in the Premier League, Sagna – capped 29 times by France but of Senegalese descent – argues quite rightly: "We do not want the season to be over at the end of December. Win these two games and we will give even more power to the team.

"It’s about time we won these big games. Against Chelsea, we dropped points, at home we have dropped so many points. At United, we want to play our game and win.

"Going top of the League was great on Saturday. But we need to be more focussed. We have to win at home. We have to keep looking forward."

Fellow Frenchman Samir Nasri has emerged as Arsenal’s unlikely hero with the pivotal Spaniard Cesc Fabregas injured. His two goals put paid to Fulham’s challenge on Saturday and Sagna, 27, recognises his importance: “Sami is now showing his best and has more to show,. We only beat Fulham because of him, He is a really good guy and fits in well with everyone on the pitch. He gives us a good balance.”

Balance is all very well. Sagna arrived in North London in 2007 and hasn’t had a sniff of a trophy since he arrived. Memories of Arsene Wenger’s three early title triumphs have faded. It’s time the Gunners stopped firing blanks.

Nasri, 23, says: “Before I felt too much pressure to score, I wanted it too much maybe. Now I don't worry as much. I'm more at ease in the game and I'm not just looking for goals, I'm looking to work for the team. I think I'm more mature in my football game. I think more with my head.”

“When I'm in front of a goalkeeper I am more relaxed now.”

He’ll need to be relaxed in front of goal at Old Trafford on Monday. A lot depends on it.

Who the hell is Neal Collins? See nealcollins.co.uk or nealcol on twitter. Currently in Ngwenya, overlooking the Crocodile River and Kruger National Park. You should see this place.

Breaking news: Mike Ashley, the Newcastle chairman, sacks manager Chris Hughton. I guess everyone knows Ashley, from Maidenhead in Berkshire, is a Spurs fan? What a fool that man is!

Tottering Hotspur Force Champions Inter Milan To Bale Out. An incredible night at White Hart Pain

And there it is. In black and white. Dark blue and white. Tottenham 3, Inter Milan 1. Proof, if ever it was required, that Tottering Hotspur are now a powerhouse in world football.

The European champions torn apart. Gareth Bale establishing himself as Europe’s form player with two magnificent assists down the left to follow his hat-trick in the 4-3 defeat at the San Siro a fortnight ago.

Bloody incredible. Why spend all that money and angst on Wayne Rooney when glorious Gareth is about? The only problem. The boy was born in Cardiff not London.

On Twitter, lifelong Arsenal fans were kicking themselves. Spurs have never been a particularly likeable side – I remember Steve Stammers of the Evening Standard saying the “Yids” were complaining on the terraces even during the double-winning year of 1961 – but everywhere you looked last night, praise was pouring forth.

Younes Kaboul held together the struggling back four, despite a magnificent goal from Samuel Eto’o, the master Barcelona stupidly swapped for Zlatan Ibrahimovich and a few million.

Carlo Cudicini, in for the suspended Heurhelho Gomes, pulled off a stunning save from Wesley Sneijder’s free-kick just before half-time.

At 1-0, scorer Rafael van der Vaart was taken off injured during half-time. But Spurs remained unruffled. Aaron Lennon stormed down the right. Tom Huddlestone sprayed the ball about in the centre of midfield. Even William Gallas got his old legs going. Benoit Assou-Ekotto did his bit at full-back behind Bale, though Scotsman Alan Hutton looked to be the weakest link.

It was a night to savour. Tottenham's finest in fifty years in this, their first season back in Europe. And even a died-in-the-wool Gooner has to confess: The White Hart Pain fans were magnificent too.

How has this happened? How has the team we all love to hate reached such a peak? It’s down to HR. That’s Harry Redknapp, not Human Resources.

He took over when Juande Ramos had taken Spurs to rock-bottom. And they haven’t looked back. In two short years they have gone from strength to strength – in style. Portsmouth fans may point out that his departure led to their club's demise, but forget all that. Redknapp is a genius. And an entertaining, informative, comedic genius at that. Ask anybody who has attended his press conferences. Laugh-a-minute. But to-the-point.

Signings like Kaboul, Cudicini, Jermain Defoe,Crouch, Van der Vaart... often controversial, often repeat signings to and fro from Portsmouth. But they’ve gelled. None of your Manchester City bickering.

And ‘Arry’s master-stroke? Switching Bale from left-back to left midfield. He terrorised the great Brazilian Maicon last night. After Modric made the first for Van der Vaart, Bale created two on a plate for Crouch and finally sub Roman Pavlyuchenko, just when it mattered.

Rarely has a player evoked such emotions. He is powerfully built, he knocks surrendering Italians into touch... and his pace is quite breathtaking. No need for Ronaldoesque step-over, just surge through and BOOM!

Redknapp said after the game: "Bale? Amazing, amazing. The dope testers are here. They should test him. The boys can run and run. It’s everything really. Gareth’s got great ability, he can run all day. He can cross with that left foot, shoot, dribble, head. He’s got everything.

“And you couldn’t meet a nicer boy than Gareth. He’s just a lovely boy. That was a fantastic night’s football, from first to last. We worked ‘em. Modric has come back to top form but it was an amazing performance from every single one of them. The whole team."

Spurs now top Group A (aka the Group of Death) ahead of Inter Milan on goal difference. Both have seven points. FC Twente have five. Manchester United's 3-1 win went almost unnoticed at Bursaspor, as did Rangers devastating defeat in Valencia. Scuffles after Barcelona's 1-1 draw in Copenhagen matter not a jot.

This night belonged to Gareth, Harry and Tottenham. As Paul Walsh, the former Spurs and Liverpool striker said: “Bale has mullered Maicon twice in two games. Fantastic.”

And all this without Defoe, Michael Dawson, Gomes, Ledley King. Harry, you are the master.

A bad night for two Manchester United legends - and Becks goes off in a rebels' scarf

AS predicted here yesterday, there are not one but two very unhappy former Manchester United legends wandering around Europe with the vacant knocked-out stare this morning.The world's most famous footballer, David Beckham, and the world's most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo, both saw their sides plunge out of the Champions League last night.
For Beckham - clad in the rebel green and gold - it was an embarrassment. A late substitute, he came on when AC Milan were 3-0 down for his first competitive game at Old Trafford since he left for £23million after a decade of brilliance in 2003. He had one chance, messed up one pass... and saw Sir Alex Ferrguson's side score another after a standing rendition of "There's Only One David Beckham" from the United faithful.
For Ronaldo, the £80million man, there was the embarrassment of a 1-1 home draw against gallant Frenchmen Lyon at the Bernebeu. And this after his early goal had given the Galacticos a great chance of turning the tie around after their 1-0 first leg defeat.
United then go through 7-2 after their 4-0 win. Wayne Rooney took his tally to four in the tie with an early header followed by a neat finish. The leader in Europe's League-based chase for the Golden Boot, he is unstoppable in Europe too.
His first was his seventh successive headed goal, he now has 9 headers in his last 10 games after scoring just four in his first 354 games. And his total in all competitions? Thirty in 34 games. Incredible.
Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher added the a miserable night for Becks and crew who had not lost in four previous attempts against United. Like Arsenal the night before, winning after a first leg deficit for the first time in 31 years, United have rewritten a little bit of history.
And all this in front of two of the Glazers, Joel and Avi, with thousands protesting about the American owners' debt in the green and yellow of Newton Heath, the founding club. The slogan: "Green and gold until the club is sold". The Red Knights will no doubt be encouraged by Beckham's decision to don a green and gold scarf as he wandered off, though he later claimed he "didn't realise the significance" of his act.
Clearly emotional, the former England captain said: "You know, it was a disappointing night because we lost the game but returning here is always special. The reception was really unbelievable. It was really incredible. A tear in the eye? I don't know. It was nice to be back.
"I had a volley, I caught it too well but by then it was too late. They're a good team. They deserve to go all the way. When you don't start in games, it's one of those things where you want to play but you know, we're a team. We have to win together and we lose together.
"This is possibly my last game here. I will take a lot of memories away from here.
"Wayne Rooney is such an exceptional talent. He's always scared defenders. Without a doubt he's one of the best, if not the best, player at the moment with Messi and Ronaldo."
Sir Alex agreed: "Wayne has been absolutely sensational this season and I'm delighted he's got to 30 goals. Can he surpass Cristiano Ronaldo's 42? That's the challenge isn't it."
For Real and their £250m-worth of talent, it was even worse. Ronaldo fluffed a late chance, the 90,000 fans were leaking out of the stadium and Lyon failed with two one-on-one efforts to make it a seriously awkward result for boss Marco Pellegrini.
Real have now failed at the first knock-out stage for the last six seasons - and the final is scheduled for the Bernebeu this year.
So United and Lyon go through to join Bayern Munich - who benefited from former Real and Chelsea star Arjen Robben's late wondergoal - and an impressive Arsenal, 6-2 victors over Porto.
As a Gooner, I've got to go against Arsene Wenger's comments last night and say... anyone but United.
Chelsea, 2-1 down against Inter Milan, must wait until next week at Stamford Bridge to earn their place in the last eight. Given what we've seen from the two Premier League sides so far, I wouldn't be against them.

Arsenal must rewrite 31 years of history - time for a Theology lesson for Chris Twaddle

FRANK STAPLETON is 53. He hasn't played football professionally for 15 years. So he must have choked over his cornflakes when he saw a picture of himself in today's papers, in action for Arsenal against Hajduk Split in 1978, 11 years before Theo Walcott (above) was born.
But of course there's a good reason for that Frank. It illustrates the last time Arsenal survived a European tie after losing a first leg away from home.
And tonight, as they try to repair a mostly self-inflicted 2-1 defeat at Porto two weeks ago, they have to manage it having accepted Cesc Fabregas's hamstring has forced him out for the second time this season.
Oh, and there's no William Gallas (Arsene Wenger accepts responsibility for that, saying he made the Frenchman train too hard), Robin van Persie, Aaron Ramsey... need I go on?
Wenger today gave a smiley press conference, saying: "We have good confidence. We are in a good position. Let's just go for it. There's always something new in our game and er... that's why we can change history. We have a good opportunity. This side has a good chance to make history."
Let's hope so - in all they've won just 3 out of 12 after losing the first leg in Europe. And perhaps more worrying than all those injuries is the fact that Nicklas Bendtner looks like he'll be playing up front again tonight. I counted five misses against Burnley on Saturday. The Sun does a lovely photo strip of Wenger choosing a wall dummy instead of the Great Dane on page 54 today. Harsh but fair.
Wenger accepts: "It is true at the start of the season you would want Gallas, Fabregas and Van Persie to be the spine of the team. Without them we can show we are still strong enough."
If he does it, Wenger will have restored his reputation quite thoroughly after the disastrous defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea barely a month ago.
In that short time, he has put Arsenal back in contention in the Premier League and, hopefully, the last eight in Europe once more.
Porto have lost their last six games in London and Arsenal beat them 4-0 at the Emirates last season, so victory is not out of the question. But on the 24 occasions Porto have led after a home leg, they have always progressed.
Some point to Porto's recent form - a 3-0 defeat against Sporting Lisbon and a 2-2 draw at home to Olhanense, but they've apparently been resting players to prepare for tonight.
Key to Arsenal's progress will be Theo Walcott, lambasted for his "brainless" performance against Egypt for England last week but looking a lot more assured as he scored and made three for Bendtner (who failed to convert them) against Burnley over the weekend.
Walcott says today: "I remember losing in a youth cup final with Southampton, I've lost the Under 21 final, lost the Carling Cup.
"I've got plenty of experience of the pain of losing. It makes you stronger for next time. And it would be nice if that next time was this year."
Former England winger Chris Waddle, who claimed live on radio at Wembley that Walcott "hasn't got a football brain" continues his attack today. He tells us how hard he worked on his weaknesses as a player to win 62 caps and insists Theo shouldn't go to the World Cup.
But I'll tell you younger readers something. There were times when Waddle, a gifted player, looked like he had no brain at all. He was an infuriating winger, the Berbatov of his time. Lazy, shoulders rounded, incapable of raising his game when it matters. And we won't mentioned the missed penalty.
If ever there was a time for Walcott to prove the critics wrong - and secure his flight to South Africa - it's tonight. And remember Gooners, no matter how bad things get at the Emirates, it can't be as bad as Liverpool were in their 1-0 defeat against Wigan last night.
Tomorrow: Manchester United welcome back Milan and Sir Alex Ferguson says: "Please God, don't let them ask about Beckham again."