Arsenal face same old story on puzzling night

Still, Arsenal had the last laugh as UEFA confirmed Napoli became the first team to exit the competition with 12 points. And so if Olivier Giroud’s marvellous improvement continues to yield dividends, Wenger will feel he can break the cycle of past failures.

After all, they remain five points clear at the top of the Premier League and emerged from a devilishly difficult group to book their 14th-consecutive appearance in the last 16 of the competition. They were minutes away from topping Group F, too.

And yet, those waiting to see the Gunners’ revival crash in a familiar sea of implosion and mental frailty were given ammunition that this season’s promise could yet turn out to be another false dawn.

Per Mertesacker’s admission that last night’s unusual scenario prompted players to lose their concentration could be attributed to a quirk of UEFA’s rulebook or leapt on by sceptics as proof they are yet to eradicate their erroneous ways.

Arsenal must galvanise to prove those doubters wrong, especially with Manchester City and Chelsea next up to test their resolve.

“For now we have a little breather to focus on the championship,” said Wenger. “We have a very difficult game on Saturday morning.

“We will see what comes out of the draw and will assess that in February, because a lot can change on both sides, on us and the team we play against, so we need to put that to the back of our minds now and focus on the championship.”

Arsenal have had a habit of imploding quickly. The first hour of their display here was impressive enough to suggest there is no imminent sign of another storm; Mertersacker, Laurent Koscielny, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta were all excellent in gradually strangling the life out of Napoli before their late gasp for air.

Higuain’s goal precipitated a flurry of activity. Arteta was harshly sent off for two yellow cards before Jose Callejon’s lobbed finish set Arsenal hearts racing before a final whistle confirmed the visitors’ qualification and Napoli’s unlucky exit.

Finishing second will both please and puzzle Wenger. When this group was drawn, Arsenal’s progression looked uncertain.

And yet, Wenger did not rest many players here — in truth, only Aaron Ramsey by design — to surrender the final match as he has done in previous seasons. This was a near full-strength team failing to secure the solitary point required to keep the Gunners away from Europe’s finest in the knockout round. As it is, their record remains intact but they appear second favourites in almost any conceivable tie that Monday’s draw in Nyon could throw up: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Paris St-Germain or Bayern Munich are the threatening teams that lie in wait.

“Of course to finish second makes the potential draw more difficult; in the last four or five years we have had very difficult draws, so maybe this time we will be luckier,” said Wenger.

“But if you look at the teams who are potentially there, at least we know we will have a difficult draw.

“On the other hand, we have now qualified for a 14th-consecutive season for the last 16 and maybe number 14 will bring us a bit of luck.”

Spare a thought for Rafael Benitez, who was fresh out of luck as his team exited the competition by the narrowest of margins, minutes before Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis declared that the Europa League is “a complete waste of time”.

That tournament, which Benitez won last season with Chelsea, is now their sole European involvement.

Arsenal avoided that fate and so defeat here in the Stadio San Paolo is far from a disaster.

The club still have plenty to play for this season and their future remains unwritten.

Wenger just has to make sure that it is nothing more than a blip on the road to success in one competition or another.