As Leicester City created history by advancing to their first ever Champions League quarterfinal, quite a few of the Arsenal fans, apart from appreciating the brilliant feat, would have also been thinking along the lines of "Oh geez, even Leicester can go past the last 16 stage, what does that then say about our team?"
Arsene Wenger on Champions League exit
While Leicester advanced to the quarterfinals of European club football's biggest tournament, Arsenal have failed to make it past the first round of the knockout stages for seven consecutive years.
The latest embarrassment came when they were beaten by Bayern Munich 10-2 on aggregate after suffering consecutive 5-1 defeats. That was pretty much the last straw for Arsenal in Champions League football, or at least it should have been, only for their manager Arsene Wenger to insist his team had not disappointed.
Wenger was adamant had a red card not been shown to Laurent Koscielny, the result might have been different. What he failed to also mention, though, was that even if the result on the night, in that second leg at the Emirates might not have been as pathetic as 5-1, Arsenal would have still bowed out of the competition.
Leicester were up against it going into this second leg against Sevilla; 2-1 down, with an inexperienced manager in Craig Shakespeare in charge and with pressure piled on the players, who had been accused of getting Claudio Ranieri the sack.
Instead of moaning and complaining and saying sorry, though, the Leicester players decided to do the talking on the pitch, with an actual performance, something Arsenal have failed to do for seven straight years in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Every single one of the 11 players had a solid game on the night and while there was luck involved as well – Samir Nasri was sent off for Sevilla, while Kasper Schmeichel had to save a penalty late on – that was luck that Leicester deserved.
When you put in the right performance, when you show intent, luck, inevitably camps on your side, as Leicester showed on Tuesday. When you don't show a stomach for the fight, when you are just happy to coast through the season, luck decides to do one by going to the other side.
At the end of the day, you make your own luck and Arsenal, one of the biggest clubs in the world, should have found a way, at least once, to go through to those quarterfinals. Instead, they get pasted by the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, with even Milan and Monaco joining in.
Leicester, a team that looked destined for relegation, this time, two seasons ago, did find a way – showing that quality and big-name players alone will not do. You need a bit of desire as well, to win trophies and try and make history.
For too long now, Wenger has been awfully comfortable in his job – getting the top four place and ensuring the club keeps getting into the Champions League, while the board and the owners rake in the money.
That feeling of comfort has seeped into the Arsenal squad as well, where almost every player feels he doesn't have to quite be at that absolute top level demanded of professionals – yes, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, it is that inertia that is costing Arsenal.
And unless that changes, all Arsenal fans can do is watch other clubs from the Premier League have nights such as the one Leicester enjoyed on Tuesday.
