Champions League: SC Braga Play "All Or Nothing" Match Against Arsenal

SC Braga shocked the footballing world by beating Sevilla in the playoff and advancing to the Champions League group stage. The Spanish giants were overwhelmingly favorites, but the Portuguese minnows brilliantly beat them 5-3 on aggregate (1-0 at home, 4-3 at Sevilla).

However, their European fairytale was short-lived. While many predicted that Braga could be the surprise package in this year's Champions League, the Portuguese outfit couldn't handle the pressure and were mercilessly destroyed by Arsenal at the Emirates (6-0) and by Shakthar Donetsk at home (3-0).

At the brink of elimination, Braga dug deep to beat Partizan home an away, but thanks to Arsenal's inability to win at Ukraine, their chances are now completely dependant on beating the Gunners at home. If Braga fail to do so and Shakhtar beats Partizan (as expected), their Champions League dream will be over.

In theory, Braga do not stand a chance, and not only because they were trounced 6-0 at the Emirates. The difference between Arsenal and Braga as football clubs is huge. To put things in perspective, Cesc Fabregas's yearly salary is higher than Braga's annual budget.

For Arsenal, being in the Champions League has become quite normal: they've been in this competition for 13 years in a row and are a regular feature in the latter stages of Europe's most important competition. They've even reached the final in 2005-2006.

Meanwhile, just eight years ago, Braga were fighting to avoid relegation in the Portuguese league. Appointed in 2003, their president António Salvador had an ambitious project and declared that he dreamed of taking Braga to the Champions League. Steps were taken in that direction and Braga quickly became Portugal's fourth team (after Porto, Sporting and Benfica) and a regular feature in the UEFA Cup.

Last season, they finally made the jump and, taking advantage of a bad season by Porto and Sporting, finished the league in second place. The rest, as they say, is history.

With limited financial means, Braga always had to buy cheap, talented players, mostly taking advantage of the Brazilian market. In fact, Braga's most expensive signing ever cost £100,000, in a clear contrast with Arsenal, who signed Andrey Arshavin for £15,000,000 back in 2009.

In theory, there's just no chance for Braga in this match. Arsenal are a much bigger club, they have much more talented and experienced players, the payrolls are incomparable, and they've annihilated the Portuguese team at the Emirates.

As if this were not enough, Braga have been showing poor form in the Portuguese league and they've already lost more matches than during the entire 2009-2010 season. Furthermore, the defeat at Ukraine means that Arsenal aren't qualified yet, which means that Arsène Wenger will certainly bring his best squad to Portugal.

However, football matches are not won on paper. Braga's successful history is one of battling the odds. No one would have put any money on Braga finishing second in the Portuguese League, and certainly no one would have put any money on Braga humbling Celtic and Sevilla in the Champions League playoffs. And who would have guessed that Lima, an unknown Brazilian player, would score a hat trick at the Sanchez Pijuan?

Arsenal are a powerful team, one of the best in England and Europe, but they're by no means unbeatable. Cesc Fabregas has been a shadow of himself, which hurts Arsenal in their offensive process, and their defense has known better days.

Arsenal have recently been beaten by such weak sides as West Bromich Albion and Newcastle in the Premier League. Besides, their away form in this year's Champions League has been far from inspirational: a hard-fought win at Partizan and a defeat at Donetsk. 

Still, Braga's chances are slim and dependant on an almost perfect performance by the Portuguese outfit. They will probably adopt the same strategy as against Sevilla: defensive organization (trying to frustrate Arsenal) and using the incredible pace of Matheus and Lima to wreak havoc up front. Defensive perfection will be required, since if Arsenal score first it'll probably all over for the Portuguese.

Another factor working in Braga's favor is the absence of pressure. A Europa League spot is already secure and advancing to the Champions League knockout phase is only a bonus. No one at the club demanded Braga to advance.

For Braga, being in the group stage was already a victory and advancing to the Europa League knockouts if February is a great result. Now, they'll try to take their dream one step further by beating Arsenal and giving themselves a chance to advance, but if they can't, it won't be the end of the world.

As for Arsenal, they harbour ambitions of going deep in the Champions League and being sent home in the group stages, especially against clubs (Braga and Shakhtar Donetsk) with far inferior resources, would be deemed as utter failure. Even if they lose at Braga, they could advance by beating Partizan at home.

No one expects Arsenal not to beat such a weak side as Partizan at the Emirates, but Arsène Wenger certainly won't take any risks and will try to guarantee the qualification right away. The stakes are much higher for the North London side.

Prior to the draw, Domingos Paciencia, the brilliant manager behind Braga's recent success, said that he wanted to host such European giants as Barcelona, Manchester United or Real Madrid. His wish wasn't granted yet, but there's only one way to do it: beating Arsenal on Tuesday.

It's an uphill battle, against all odds, but no team is defeated before the match starts, especially not a team who has achieved so much with so little as Braga.

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