If you had told Arsene Wenger on Monday morning that his team would all but emulate Barcelona this week then he surely would have bitten your hand off. And yet just after half-time in Moscow, the Arsenal boss must have been fearing the worst given events around Europe this week.
Like Barca, the Gunners arrived in the Russian capital with a 4-1 lead to defend, only to find themselves 2-0 down with 40 minutes still left on the clock. Defensive inconsistency is something Arsenal fans have come accustomed to over the past few seasons, and the bad habits yet again returned to their backline on Thursday.