David Ospina Is Arsenal Scapegoat, but Champions League Problems Run Deeper

EMIRATES STADIUM, London—For years now, Arsenal fans have complained that their Champions League campaigns are all repetitive. They make it through the group stages, only to stumble when the competitions reach the crunch knockout phase.

This year, the Gunners seem determined to provide their supporters with some variation: After two consecutive defeats, there’s a high chance they won’t even make it to the second round.

Qualifying from the group is not impossible, but it will be difficult for Arsenal now. With zero points on the board, their next two games pit them against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich.

While Arsenal stumbled to a 3-2 home defeat to Olympiakos, Bayern were strolling to a 5-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb—a team who defeated Arsenal in the previous round of fixtures. It doesn’t look good for the Gunners.

Much of the attention will surely be focused on Arsene Wenger’s decision to field goalkeeper David Ospina instead of Petr Cech. The Colombian made a major error that gifted the Greeks one of their three goals.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

The absence of Cech was difficult to understand. Gunners supporters hoped that the acquisition of a world-class goalkeeper would elevate the team to the level where it could contend for major prizes like the Champions League.

However, Cech has not started either of Arsenal’s European outings to date.

One wonders why Arsenal fought so hard to sign a player they’ve not yet fielded in a competition that is a supposed priority. Wenger made reference to a slight injury problem, but it was not substantial enough to keep him from naming the former Chelsea man among the substitutes.

Speaking to Arsenal.com after the game, Wenger defended his decision to start Ospina:

"

David Ospina played 19 games last season and kept 14 clean sheets and last week he had a fantastic game. No keeper is mistake free, it could have happened to Petr Cech as well. ...

I make the decisions and selections for the team and I’m responsible for it. I know many things that you don’t know and that you ignore. You cannot select a team by using a poll and getting everyone’s opinion before the game.

"

Wenger clearly believes that Ospina is not the sole reason Arsenal lost this game. Unfortunately for the Gunners boss, he may be right.

Arsenal have a weakness in the Champions League that extends beyond Wenger’s desire to rotate his keepers. Given the talent they possess in their squad, they consistently underperform in Europe’s elite competition.

Olympiakos are not the first underdog to come to the Emirates Stadium and leave with three goals to their name. In the past 12 months, Anderlecht and Monaco have done the same. Arsenal seem doomed to continually fall into the same tactical traps.

Losing to Bayern is one thing. Losing to sides like this is quite another.

Mitchell Gunn/Getty Images

There is an element of strategic sophistication to Champions League football that Wenger and his men cannot seem to get to grips with. Their naivety was perfectly demonstrated when they conceded a third goal within a minute of drawing the game level at 2-2.

That was eerily reminiscent of last year’s tie with Monaco, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain clawed the Gunners back into the tie in stoppage time only for them to concede another before the final whistle. Back then, Wenger told the BBC that Arsenal were “suicidal defensively.” Infuriatingly for the watching supporters, they do not appear to have learned from their mistakes.

At present, Arsenal are trapped in a cycle whereby they spend their season battling to qualify for a competition they are incapable of winning. That’s almost as frustrating as signing a top goalie only to leave him out of your biggest games.

It’s vital Arsenal pick up a positive result against Manchester United in their next Premier League game, or the forthcoming international break will feel particularly gloomy.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.