At the Very End, a Bad Night Turns Awful for Arsenal

LONDON — What next for England in the Champions League?

The Premier League attracts players from all over the world, and the television revenue it receives makes other national leagues green with envy.

But right now in the UEFA Champions League, the English cannot buy a victory.

Liverpool is gone already, eliminated in the group phase. Chelsea is holding on after a fortuitous draw in the French capital against Paris St.-Germain. On Tuesday, Manchester City was outplayed on its home field by Barcelona for the second year running. And on Wednesday, even more embarrassingly, Arsenal lost, 3-1, in its own stadium to A.S. Monaco.

Out of earshot, Berbatov had his say on TV. “Nobody expected it,” he said, “but you cannot say it is over because Arsenal are a good team. I don’t think they can afford to underestimate us; if they did, its bad for Arsenal.”

Berbatov left his hardest shot for last. “Maybe,” he said, “we wanted it more than them.”

A version of this article appears in print on February 27, 2015, in The International New York Times. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe

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