English Football Faces Setbacks as Monaco Stuns Arsenal and Barcelona Defeats City
It was another tough night for English football in the Champions League, as Barcelona triumphed over Manchester City and Monaco secured a stunning victory away to Arsenal in the first leg of their round of 16 ties.
At the Etihad Stadium, Barcelona emerged with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City, despite Lionel Messi missing a late penalty that could have sealed a more comfortable win for the Catalan giants. Barcelona’s performance left City with work to do in the return leg, as Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to break down their opponents.
But the real shock came later, when Monaco delivered a resounding 3-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The French side stunned the Gunners with a clinical display, with Geoffrey Kondogbia opening the scoring in the 38th minute. Dimitar Berbatov doubled Monaco’s advantage in the 53rd minute, and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco sealed the win with a goal in the dying moments (90+4). Arsenal’s lone response came from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored in the 90th minute but could not prevent a disastrous first leg for his team.
In the other round of 16 clash, Bayer Leverkusen edged Atletico Madrid 1-0, with Hakan Calhanoglu scoring the only goal of the match in the 57th minute.
As English clubs face disappointing results, the question arises: Is English football in crisis?
