UEFA Champions League 2012: AC Milan Slaughter Arsenal 4-0

It didn’t take long for things to go badly for Arsenal. Kevin-Prince Boateng scored an absolutely stunning goal to put the Rossoneri ahead just 15 minutes in, taking a ball off of his chest and hitting a perfect volley into the back of the net off of the underside of the crossbar from 12 yards out.

Before anyone would have a chance to see how that worked out, Milan went up 3-0. Ibrahimović set up Robinho for the shooting opportunity again, though this one wasn’t quite as clear cut. That is, before Vermaelen fell down, giving Robinho a clear path to shoot into. After 49 minutes, Arsenal led 3-0.

A few minutes later, Robinho makes Gibbs look like a 12-year-old by ghosting straight past the erstwhile defender and bearing down on Szczesny’s goal. The Brazilian probably should have crossed the ball, but he was looking for his hat trick and made the wrong decision in going for goal.

Benfica have struggled in the early going against Zenit St. Petersburg thanks primarily to rather appalling conditions at the Petrovski Stadiu. It’s absolutely frigid out there and the pitch looks like a battlefield from World War I. The Portuguese are having trouble putting together the flowing passing that they’re known for. As a result, Zenit are generally having the better of play against their more fancied opponents.

That didn’t stop the hosts going down against the run of play in the 20th minute, however, as Yuri Zhevnov failed to deal with an Oscar Cardoze free kick, pushing it straight to Maxi Pereira for a straightforward tap-in. That lead didn’t last long, however - Roman Shirikov brought Zenit straight back into things with a lovely cushioned volley into Artur’s bottom corner seven minutes later.

Zenit St. Petersburg got off to a rough start in the UEFA Champions League, but did well to get to this point. They were drawn in a group with APOEL Nicosia, Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Porto, where they were either second or third favorites to advance. APOEL, supposedly the worst team in the group, was the first to qualify. Zenit got a draw against Porto on the final day, good enough to sneak them through.

Things went a little smoother for Benfica. With FC Basel taking points from Manchester United on two occasions, they not only advanced from a group with the Red Devils, but won it. In 26 games, between Portuguese Liga and Champions League play, Benfica is undefeated.

Arsenal may be having a relatively difficult domestic campaign, but their European form has been the envy of teams far higher up the Premier League table. Having cruised though Group F, securing top spot before the final game, Arsenal were rewarded with drawing a second-place team - only to end up with defending Serie A champions AC Milan.

It’s an unfortunate draw, certainly, but as Tottenham Hotspur showed last season, Milan are hardly the all-conquering force they once were, and the Gunners can probably manage to get past them this year. In order to do that, they’ll have to get at least a draw or an away goal at the San Siro. The good news, of course, is that Arsenal’s primary weakness - their fullbacks - is rather countered by Milan offering very little on the flanks, a problem that’s compounded by Arsenal having the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the wings.