Domestically, Arsenal are going from strength to strength.
In Europe, however, the Gunners can’t seem to maintain their brand of elegant, attacking soccer.
Arsenal play Panathinaikos in Athens on Wednesday in the third rotation of the Champions League group stage.
The Gunners started their European season cautiously, holding on for a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven. That caution cost them in the next match, with Rosenborg rallying for a 1-1 draw.
In contrast, Arsenal are unbeaten in 49 Premier League matches and beat Aston Villa 3-1 on Saturday. The team have scored 29 goals in nine matches this season to be top of the league by five points.
Arsenal are also 11 points ahead of arch-rival Manchester United, whom they play next Sunday.
”When we were 1-0 up against Rosenborg, we felt we were a bit too restricted in our attitude and didn’t kill the game off,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
”We have to learn from that and play a bit more relaxed. We have to be as normal as possible. We want so much to do well, but we’ve not yet built up the same confidence in the Champions League. We want to deliver so much. Then you’re less relaxed — and not as good.”
Arsenal have never advanced past the quarterfinals of the European Cup, losing a semifinal berth last season to crosstown rival Chelsea.
Arsenal will be without captain Patrick Vieira, who twisted his ankle during the Villa win. That means 17-year-old Cesc Fabregas should start in Greece.
Panathinaikos, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Aegaleo on Saturday, beat Rosenborg in their first match but then lost to PSV.
The defending Greek champions lead the domestic league with 10 points, ahead of crosstown AEK Athens on goal difference.
Arsenal lead Group E with four points, with PSV and Panathinaikos on three and Rosenborg on one. Rosenborg host PSV in the other match on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s AC Milan-FC Barcelona match at San Siro Stadium brings together two of the traditional greats of European soccer.
Italian champion Milan have won Europe’s biggest title six times while Barcelona, rejuvenated under Frank Rijkaard, lead the Spanish league after a long spell in the soccer doldrums.
Rijkaard’s team are unbeaten and have won six of seven league games to top La Liga after edging neighbour Espanyol 1-0.
Barcelona have a long list of injured defenders, but seem able to continue regardless. Three of their players — Edmilson, Thiago Motta and Gabri Garcia — have serious knee problems and are all out for six months.
Carles Puyol is doubtful with a bruised left knee and Ludovic Giuly and midfielder Gerard Lopez are also set to miss the match through injury.
Milan come off a 1-0 victory at Cagliari thanks to Andrea Pirlo’s solo strike and hold second place in Serie A behind Juventus. Now veteran defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta come up against Barca’s talented strike force of Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto’o and Henrik Larsson.
Whatever the result in Milan, the two soccer giants will remain at least three points ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic, who meet in the other group F match in Ukraine.
Milan’s crosstown rival Inter Milan are also in good form as they seek to win their third straight Champions League match in group G when they play at Valencia.
Inter’s 3-1 win against Udinese on Sunday included two spectacular goals by striker Adriano and an end to Christian Vieri’s long scoring drought.
Adriano’s first goal came on a ferocious, 35m free-kick and the second on full-field solo action just a day after returning from international duty in Brazil.
”If they put me on the bench, I would accept it without any problems. But I’m counting on playing both against Valencia and the derby,” he said, referring to Inter’s match against city rival AC Milan on Sunday.
Vieri scored his first goal since April and said he is completely over a knee injury.
”In some games, after a half hour I couldn’t play any more, so the most comforting thing is to have played 90 minutes without trouble,” he said.
Inter have six points, Werder Bremen and Valencia three and Anderlecht zero. Anderlecht host the German champion in the other group G game.
Chelsea’s group H game against CSKA Moscow on Wednesday will create something of a dilemma for the Blues’ Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, who also has business links with the Moscow team.
Jose Mourinho’s men suffered their first loss of the season since the former FC Porto coach arrived at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea went down 1-0 at Manchester City on Saturday and conceded only their second league goal in nine games.
They also have unwanted publicity surrounding out-of-favour striker Adrian Mutu.
On Monday, it was confirmed the Romanian has tested positive for cocaine. While his ”B” sample has not yet been analysed, he faces a two-year ban if that’s also positive.
But Mourinho’s team should be confident of a third group victory in a row to take a stronger grip of top spot.
Porto, the defending champion, have just one point from two games and need to win at Paris Saint-Germain to get back into contention. — Sapa-AP
Tuesday’s matches: Liverpool vs Deportivo de La Coruna and Monaco vs Olympiakos in group A; Bayer Leverkusen vs AS Roma and Real Madrid vs Dynamo Kiev in group B; Ajax vs Maccabi Tel Aviv and Juventus vs Bayern Munich in group C; and Fenerbahce vs Lyon and Sparta Prague vs Manchester United in group D.