Arsenal and Celtic suffered a nightmare start to their European Champions League campaigns on Wednesday as their hopes of joining Manchester United, Chelsea and Rangers in the British winners’ circle were brought to a shuddering halt.
Arsenal, who often shine brightly in the Premiership only to suffer a major power cut in Europe, were completely outclassed by Inter Milan losing 3-0 at Highbury while Celtic threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Bayern Munich for whom Roy Makaay grabbed both goals.
The defeats were particularly disappointing as they came just 24 hours after United had crushed Panathinaikos 5-0, Chelsea had pulled off a battling 1-0 win at Sparta Prague while Rangers came back from a goal down to see off Stuttgart 2-1 at Ibrox.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, last year’s runners-up Juventus beat Galatasaray 2-1 while there was a double celebration for France with Lyon beating Anderlecht 1-0 and Monaco enjoying an impressive 2-1 reward from their trip to PSV Eindhoven.
But it was at Highbury where the most intense inquisition was being carried out as Arsenal’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages suffered a huge setback.
”It’s very disappointing because we started very brightly but we made the wrong decisions in the box,” said Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.
”We were a bit naive on the goals. It is difficult to say what went wrong, it is painful enough to lose.”
By contrast, Inter coach Hector Cuper was delighted with his team’s impressive performance.
”It was a beautiful Inter tonight,” said Cuper. ”I must compliment everyone because they were extraordinary.”
Goals from Julio Cruz, Andy van der Meyde and Nigerian teenager Obafemi Martins killed off the match before the break as Inter made light of the absence of Christian Vieri.
Arsenal squandered a lifeline in the 32nd minute when Thierry Henry had a penalty saved by Francesco Toldo and Wenger’s side paid for their profligacy four minutes before the break when Turkey playmaker Emre set Martins free to score from 10 yards.
The Gunners were left to rue a host of missed chances with Freddie Ljungberg and Gilberto squandering opportunities.
In the other Group B game match, Dynamo Kiev beat Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0.
Meanwhile, Roy Makaay repaid a huge slice of his €18,75-million fee with two late strikes to cancel out Alan Thompson’s opener and hand Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over Celtic in Group A at the Olympic Stadium.
Makaay volleyed home with 73 minutes gone and then added his second from close range four minutes from the end.
Thompson looked to have given Celtic a shock win after netting on 57 minutes.
Despite the win, Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said his side’s start had been terrible.
”We really don’t have the right to be in the Champions League if we play like we did in first half. You have to give more than 100 percent in this competition.”
Celtic coach Martin O’Neill admitted his players were shellshocked.
”It is sheer disbelief,” he said. ”For 70 minutes we were in control and we had deservedly gone in front in Munich against one of the best sides in Europe.”
Last season’s beaten finalists Juventus opened their campaign with a scrappy 2-1 win over Galatasaray at the Delle Alpi stadium.
Veteran central defender Ciro Ferrara scored the winning goal with a close range effort after 73 minutes to save Juve’s blushes after Hakan Sukur had cancelled out Alessandro del Piero’s early opener for the home side.
”It was a strange game. We started well but we were punished on one of their rare attacks,” said Ferrara.
In the other Group D match, Real Sociedad beat Olympiakos 1-0.
Monaco saw off PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in Group C with goals either side of half time from Spanish international Fernando Morientes and Edouard Cisse.
That gave Monaco the edge in their group as Deportivo la Coruna and AEK Athens fought out a 1-1 draw in Greece.
French champions Lyon beat Anderlecht 1-0 thanks to a first-half penalty from Juninho Pernambucano. — Sapa-AFP