No Ozil, No Title: Why Arsenal Will Struggle To Challenge For Trophy Without Injured Playmaker

Facing Bayern Munich was never going to be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination but the draw at the Allianz Arena was an admirable way to bow out of the Champions League for Arsenal. The Gunners were hoping to avoid a crushing defeat and keep all of their players fit. One of those goals was achieved, but one was certainly not.

The first half saw Mesut Ozil struggle to get a foothold into the game, which people instantly jumped to the conclusion that he has returned to his ineffective self, but there apparently was a reason for that as it was revealed today that Ozil was carrying an injury throughout the first half. The Telegraph was one of the newspaper outlets that ran the story. 

Arsenal have 11 games to try and wrestle the Premier League crown away from Chelsea but they would've needed their best players in order to achieve that goal. With Mesut Ozil gone, they lose one of their most creative players that can just rip apart a team in the blink of an eye, just as he proved against Everton in the FA Cup.

With such a difficult fixture list ahead, the Gunners needed a maximum amount of players to see them through the difficult period. With Jack Wilshere out for six weeks and Aaron Ramsey still not returned to the team, the news of Ozil's month-long injury has come at the worse possible time. His creativity will be sorely missed.

While his creativity will be missed, the lift he gives the rest of the team, due to his pedigree, will be gone also. His arrival seemed to boost the confidence of the Gunners and they played better as a consequence.

Even when he was out of form, just playing with a player like Ozil gave the players an air of positivity. Almost like they became more determined to reach his standard of play - they do not have a player like that in his absence. Not a world class talent that can give the team a boost simply being in the same colours as them, anyway.