World Football's Champions League Hangover: The Problem with Dominance

Welcome to world football's Thursday Morning Hangover, an homage to the NFL section's own Monday Morning Hangover, in which we round up the key stories and important points from the most recent matchday in the Champions League.

Bayern's Few Flaws Exposed Brutally by Aguero

How did Bayern Munich lose against Manchester City on Tuesday? To hear Pep Guardiola tell it, the German champions were simply tired after playing 70 minutes of the game with only 10 men.

"We lost the game because we gave them the game," Guardiola said, per The Telegraph. "But that is football. ... We were tired in the last 10 minutes, which is why we made changes to regain control, but we lost. When we lose, if we play s--t, we accept we play s--t, but we are happy because we didn't deserve to lose."

There may be an element of truth to that, especially when you note that City's two goals in the final five minutes came from two egregious defensive mistakes. When Guardiola said his team were "tired," perhaps he meant mentally rather than physically. Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng both should have been physically capable of avoiding the mistakes they made as the game drew to a close.

This, perhaps, is Bayern's Achilles' heel. The 3-2 loss to City was just their second of the season (the other coming against Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup), so perhaps Bayern have got used to utterly outclassing their opponents to the point where they do not need full concentration for all 90 minutes in order to come away with the desired result.

The German champions outclassed City for most of the game despite going down to 10 men so soon. But most teams they face do not have an attacking talent like Sergio Aguero—someone capable of punishing them three times, even though he was only presented with three chances—and perhaps it was that unfamiliarity that cost them in the end.

Guardiola's swearing in the aftermath of the game may have surprised some, but it is not entirely out of character. He famously told Marti Perarnau, in the book Pep Confidential, that he "f----d up" in Bayern's semi-final defeat to Real Madrid last season—going with the wrong tactical setup in the second leg as Carlo Ancelotti's side romped to a one-sided win.

The desire (on Guardiola's part) to play in a way that leaves them remarkably exposed at the back—especially against sides of similar quality—might be another of Bayern's flaws. At times Tuesday, Bayern seemed to play with just two at the back (Mehdi Benatia and Boateng), with Alonso sitting between them and four players (Juan Bernat, Sebastian Rode, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rafinha) across what could be classed as the midfield.

This seems to be close to the way Guardiola wants to play going forward (especially once some players are fully fit), but it does seem to leave them remarkably exposed at the back whenever they are forced to defend a counter-attack.

Ask Benatia, who got himself sent off after being dragged into a one-on-one battle with Aguero.

Of course, the business end of this competition is still months away. Bayern might be over their injury problems by then—Philipp Lahm, David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara are among the current absentees—and better prepared to face the rest of Europe's elite.

The smart money has Bayern as either the favourites or second favourites (behind Real Madrid) for Champions League glory this season. But there are still flaws in the team that need to be addressed, which Aguero so brutally exposed.

How the Qualification Picture Looks

A quick-fire look at which teams look like doing what with just one matchday to go.

You can see the actual group standings (if you are into that sort of thing) right here.

Through	Nearly there	Still a chance	Out
Atletico Madrid	Juventus	Olympiakos	Malmo
Real Madrid	Monaco	Basel	Ludogorets
Bayer Leverkusen	Sporting	Liverpool	Benfica
Borussia Dortmund		Zenit	Anderlecht
Arsenal		Schalke	Galatasaray
Bayern Munich		Roma	Ajax
PSG		Manchester City	APOEL
Barcelona		CSKA Moscow	Maribor
Chelsea			Athletic Bilbao
Porto			BATE Borisov
Shakhtar

Sanogo an Unlikely Catalyst as Arsene Outdoes Jurgen

It is not hard to see what Arsene Wenger likes in Yaya Sanogo. The striker is tall, rangy, has great technique (although that seems to come and go) and has a decent awareness of the space around him.

Watch him representing France at youth level and his quality is abundantly obvious, although it was always going to take time for him to adjust and fully develop at senior level.

Nevertheless, the 21-year-old grabbed his first Champions League goal for Arsenal on Wednesday, as he took advantage of a relatively surprising start to get in behind Dortmund's defence and slip a shot between Roman Weidenfeller's legs.

It was the start of an impressive, cohesive team performance from the Gunners, with Aaron Ramsey particularly impressive as Arsenal ultimately clinched a 2-0 victory that guarantees their passage into the last 16 of the competition for a 15th successive season.

After the game, Wenger told reporters:

"

When you work in a football club you will realise that it's not easy to have a continuity and to be consistent. I am very proud of that and I think the club also deserves a lot of credit for that. It's not enough because we want more than that but we are consistent. 

"

Despite the victory (and it should not be ignored that Dortmund were a shadow of their usual selves, as they have been so often this season), Arsenal still have what Wenger classed as only a "10 per cent" chance of finishing top of the group—they need to beat Galatasaray on Matchday 6 and hope Dortmund lose at home to Anderlecht.

That means they face the very real prospect of the same fate that has befallen them in seasons past: a runner-up finish that leaves them with the possibility of being drawn against one of Europe's biggest sides in the first knockout round.

Wenger added:

"

If you look at the last five or six years we got the teams we didn't want. From now until February we need to improve as a team, get encouragement from tonight's game and then hope we have nearly all our players back in the next round. You see who is qualified around Europe and there are many teams who are at the top, top level. There are three or four teams you don't want to play.

"

The struggles of the other English sides (only Chelsea will win their group) give Arsenal some encouragement, however. With the way the draw looks, they could just as easily draw Bayer Leverkusen or Porto as they could Bayern, Real Madrid or Barcelona. Indeed, the odds are that one of the English clubs will definitely get one of those less-fancied sides. Why not the Gunners?

Arsenal might not have improved in recent campaigns, but perhaps they might at least get a bit luckier.

Goal of the Week

A clinical finish from Alexis Sanchez to secure Arsenal's qualification, although a few questions should be asked of Roman Weidenfeller's technique.

Goal of the Week: Runner-up edition

Random Asides

• Remember the name Breel Embolo. The 17-year-old has been involved in every one of Basel's group-stage games to date, and he gave Real Madrid's illustrious defence a lot to think about during their 1-0 win over the Swiss side on Wednesday. He looks a prodigious talent, and Liverpool will have to watch him closely in two weeks.

• The two Madrid clubs seemed to swap their goalscoring exploits Wednesday, as Real won 1-0 and Atletico romped to a 4-0 triumph. Real could have won by their usual margin (Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale went close numerous times), but for once it was Atletico's turn to star. Although Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto—once tipped for a Spain call-up—will not remember his return to his homeland fondly.

• Not only are Chelsea sweeping all before them in the Premier League, they are now taking that form into Europe. Schalke were booed off after their 5-0 defeat to the Blues, but what Jose Mourinho said after the game was correct: Chelsea were simply untouchable, rather than the German club being awful.

• Sergio Aguero's hat-trick means Manchester City are back from the dead as far as this competition goes. If they beat Roma (or draw 1-1 or greater) and CSKA do not upset Bayern, they will be through to the last 16. If that happens, Manuel Pellegrini's side, along with the runner-up of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona's group, will be the side no group winner wants to face. With Aguero in the team, City have shown that, as flawed as they might be, they have the talent to beat anyone in a one-off meeting.

Good Week, Bad Week

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Good Week

Sergio Aguero: Just in case that actually needed saying.

Mario Mandzukic: A point made at a key moment with his hat-trick.

Andre Villas-Boas: Zenit kept their qualification hopes alive with a hard-fought victory.

Athletic Bilbao: A win over Shakhtar at least salvages a crumb of comfort from a difficult campaign.

Bad Week

Mehdi Benatia: Not smart defending for a supposedly top player.

Simon Mignolet: Latest mistake might signal the moment Liverpool decide to go in another direction.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Saw Lionel Messi streak away from him on the Champions League top goalscorer list.

Roberto Di Matteo: A nightmare meeting with his old club.

Other Points of Note

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Liverpool Survive Ludogorets Test

The Thursday newspapers in Britain might have been critical of Liverpool, who conceded late on to draw 2-2 with Ludogorets. But in many ways, they missed the point. A draw, rather than a victory, actually made very little difference to the Reds' qualification prospects; they still need to beat Basel at Anfield in two weeks' time.

Defeat in Bulgaria was the one thing Liverpool had to avoid, and they managed to do that.

Following the game, Brendan Rodgers praised the "character" of his side, agreeing with suggestions that they had shown more spine and that it was an improvement on recent poor performances. Nevertheless, there were still many worrying signs for the team and issues highlighted that will need to be addressed in the weeks and months to come.

Simon Mignolet remains a dubious presence in goal, with his latest mistake to gift Dani Abalo the game's opening goal underlining why the defence in front of him seems to be slightly jittery. Lucas Leiva was back in the team after reportedly being told he can leave in January, via the Mirror, while Steven Gerrard was switched to an attacking-midfield role that, while once his forte, he clearly no longer has the legs to perform properly.

Ludogorets are a better side than many neutrals will give them credit for, with some decent technical players and good organisation. Avoiding defeat in a difficult away game like that is commendable for Liverpool (even if they came so close to actually winning), but no one should be fooled into thinking it represents a real turning point for the club. That might only come against Basel—one way or the other.

Petros Karadjias/Associated Press

Messi Magic Breaks Another Record

Another game, another new record for Lionel Messi. The Barcelona forward moved clear of Raul as the competition's all-time leading goalscorer Tuesday, as his hat-trick took him to 74 goals in the Champions League.

All three of his goals against APOEL came with his right foot, yet another reminder that Messi is an almost unstoppable all-round player.

The game also saw Luis Suarez get his first competitive goal for the club. Luis Enrique's side might not even win their group—Paris Saint-Germain remain a point ahead—but at the moment, they look like fourth favourites for glory this season, behind Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

Then again, if Manchester City can beat Bayern with just Aguero to call upon, then what do Barcelona have the potential to do with Messi and his cohorts at their disposal?