The most obvious of the jokes doing the rounds in England during the Champions League fall-out was simple enough: London 2, Manchester 0. The secure passage of Arsenal and Chelsea to the next round contrasted sharply with the sorry fate of the two fallen giants from the north. United, with their enormous heritage, felt understandably sore about an uncharacteristic failure at this stage of the campaign. City, with their gigantic wealth, were frustrated but tried to be philosophical about it. After all, they still have their eyes on the Premier League prize.
With perfect timing, the English title race picks up with a fascinating tussle which pits a London club on the up against a Manchester club fresh from a blow to their pride. Chelsea versus City at Stamford Bridge suddenly looks like a more interesting contest. A couple of weeks ago, it would have been easy to fear for Andre Villas-Boas with such a challenge on the horizon. It is fair to say he has not had a smooth cruise through his first few months in English football. But two resounding – and important – 3-0 wins have given Chelsea some of their old swagger back.
Two of the old guard, Petr Cech in goal and Didier Drogba up front, produced vintage performances in the midweek defeat of Valencia. It was as if something essential in Chelsea had been switched back on, something of the famous robustness, cockiness and brute power that made them successful under Jose Mourinho.
That said, City should be about as difficult an opponent as they have faced so far this season. And Chelsea have not fared well against fellow members of the fabled big four – losing to Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool twice. Of course, that big four has become more like a six, and that is what makes this such an intriguing race.
City face an interesting period. After Chelsea they meet Arsenal, and at the beginning of January come Liverpool, United and Tottenham in a little cluster. That should certainly refocus the mind after their Champions League setback.
Sir Alex Ferguson appears to have a bigger task in reviving a United team that has looked out of sorts for a while now. Losing in Basel, and succumbing Champions League status, was a bitter pill to swallow. “Old Trafford under the lights, the Champions League music, it’s what we live for,” lamented Rio Ferdinand on the way home from Switzerland.
United have an uncomfortable array of worries at the moment. Their injury list, which has been troublesome for most of the season, took a dreadful hit with the news that their best defender, Nemanja Vidic, will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate knee injury.
In midfield, Anderson and Tom Cleverley are still out, and the lack of goals by United’s high standards remains a worry with Javier Hernandez unavailable. And of those who are fit, it cannot be said that they are firing. Wayne Rooney, who has always been a streaky player, is going through one of those fallow periods, and has not been helped by playing all over the place. Nani is a little below par, and Ashley Young has dipped since making a big impact at the start of his United career. At the other end of the pitch, the goalkeeping uncertainty does not breed confidence.
And so we have one of those debates that crop up every so often. On the one hand, some critics are wondering whether we are edging closer to the end of the line for Sir Alex Ferguson. On the other, voices line up to remind us how he is never, ever, to be written off.
It is beyond debate that the defending Champions have problems that need solving in every department. It is also generally agreed that in such a position, United are fortunate the fixture computer was kind enough to provide a home match with relatively beatable opposition, in this case Wolves, to help them try to shake off the Basel blues.
Arsenal, who celebrate their 125th birthday this weekend, are arguably the most relieved to get back to domestic duties. Their midweek trip to Olympiakos was a dead rubber – thankfully – as their position as group winners was assured. But a ropey display, with some kamikaze defending that you could use to show kids exactly what not to do, did bring up the worrying topic about how much quality they have in reserve. The big boys will be back to take on Everton at the Emirates, and the only Christmas present Arsenal supporters should be asking for is that nobody gets injured.
The race to re-qualify for the Champions League now hits the winter slog, where the temperature keeps dropping and the games keep coming. Of the other hopefuls, Newcastle are bracing themselves for a tough time with influential defenders Fabricio Collocini and Steven Taylor both absent. Liverpool, if they can ever stop being distracted by their disciplinary tussles with the Football Association, expect to get back to winning ways against QPR at Anfield. Tottenham, meanwhile, who have been thundering up the rails with as consistent a run as anyone can remember, confidently approach their next hurdle, at Stoke.
