Arsenal begin their Champions League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Atalanta in Bergamo, Italy. The London-based side were their normally solid self in defense with David Raya making a world-class double save when he stopped striker Mateo Retegui’s penalty and subsequent rebound header. It saved the point for the Gunners, who were incredibly flat going forward. They had very little creative juice in attack after Mikel Arteta reveled Martin Ødegaard will be out of action for the foreseeable future, maybe even months. Ever since his arrival in North London, he’s been one of the driving forces behind their success. No one in the squad can lead the high-press, pick a pass or just influence a match like he can. The way he drops deep, receives the ball and then stiches the defense, midfield and attack together is remarkable. He’ll be sorely missed. Get well, skipper!

Mikel Arteta started Kai Havertz in midfield, along with Thomas Partey and Declan Rice – back from suspension. While the trio wasn’t dreadful, they weren’t good either. Who scored had them rated 6.0 (Partey), 6.2 (Havertz) and 6.7 (Rice), which feels like a fair assessment. Partey wasn’t able to pick a pass, lost the ball in midfield a handful of times, didn’t do anything to advance the play forward and was whistled for a penalty. A less than stellar performance. Kai is versatile enough to play in the midfield, although he just seems more effective as the striker. He makes good runs forward and presents himself as an option, but he doesn’t make the best decisions on the ball like Ødegaard. It was good to have Rice back in the squad with most of his contributions coming on the defensive end. Early on, he stayed with an Atalanta player making a run into the box and headed away a cross that would’ve put them in a dangerous position. He also provided 2 blocks, 2 tackles and 1 interception. Going forward though, he didn’t offer much with his one free-kick skying over everyone and out of play. Finding the right balance in the midfield will be Arteta’s headache going forward.

Gabriel Martinelli is off to an awfully cold start to the season. Mikel Arteta has given him plenty of chances to start and make an impact, but he hasn’t rewarded his manager quite yet. Against Atalanta, he wasn’t doing much. He’s a solid defender, who will track back and help out his full-back, but hasn’t developed into the attacking threat one would hope. He has all the physical intangibles like pace in the open field and burst in short areas. He just needs to learn when to utilize those physical assets at the right time. The guy is still only 23, so time is on his side, it just feels like he needs to provide a bit more production in the final third to justify his place in the starting XI. It was a little surprising Bukayo Saka started after picking up a knock against Tottenham and coming off. He had one moment of quality when he stepped up to take a free-kick and shot it towards the far post. Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi had to stretch to his right and push the ball away with Thomas Partey missing the close-range rebound shot. It was one of the few good chances Arsenal had to score. Gabriel Jesus was handed the captaincy and a start at striker. He was bad. He did not take a shot, lost the ball multiple times as the lone outlet, strayed offside 3 crucial times and lost possession a team-high 5 times. It sort of makes sense as to why he was so poor, as he’s only played 15 premier league minutes, and probably needs to regain his match fitness and sharpness. With Martin Ødegaard out for an extended period of time, Arteta will need the former Manchester City player to recapture his form.

The foundation of this team is their defense. Through 5 matches they’ve only given up 1 goal. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães are an outstanding centerback pairing and are very rarely beaten 1v1. They also have great communication and can cover for one another if a bad angle is taken or a slide tackle is missed. The random mistake by Magalhães has almost been ironed out of his game completely. Against Atalanta it was no different. Saliba was credited with 5 clearances and Magalhães with 4. The big Brazilian was also dominate in the air with 5 aerial duels won. He was especially good against the Atalanta corners. He’s much more solid and consistent than a couple of seasons ago when he would make the odd mistake. The full-backs, Ben White and Jurrien Timber, weren’t as good as they had been against Tottenham. Defensively solid, but not doing much going forward. Both will need to kick in creatively much more.

The star of the match was goalkeeper David Raya. He was once again in total command of his box and only troubled by two or three Atalanta shots; two long-range efforts by Juan Cuadrado and the penalty save on Mateo Retegui’s spot-kick immediately followed by a sprawling save on the rebound effort. Raya’s been very comfortable guiding the backline, helping to build the attack and distribution in general. He’s cemented himself as a key player in Mikel Arteta’s side.

It wasn’t the best night for Arsenal, but going away from home is always tough, especially without their top creator. A point is more than fair given their lack of chances created. With 7 more group stage matches in the Champions League there will be more opportunities for the Gunners to pick-up points and qualify for the knockout stage.

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to Manchester City, the boogeymen of the Premier League, on Sunday. The reigning PL champions have won 4 consecutive titles and 6 of the past 7, an unprecedented amount of success. If Mikel Arteta and the Gunners are to breakthrough and deliver a trophy to their fans, then they will have to go through the juggernaut that is Man City. A draw would be fine, but a win would do wonders for the dressing room.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!