Matthew Upson
Former Arsenal defender on the Football Daily podcast

I cast my mind back to seeing Arsenal play [earlier in the season] - those little triangles that they would develop, on the corner of the 18-yard box, when they'd get teams penned in, then they would move it quickly with Odegaard and Rice - two players that obviously aren't available at the moment - and Saka and Trossard on the overlaps.

When they are flying and in a rhythm and can score with a set-piece or they can cut you open with that quick passing around the box, they are phenomenal.

For me, they could give anyone a game. But they have just lost that side of their game a little bit. It is not as prevalent as it was before.

It has become a little bit more one-dimensional, which allowed Inter to showcase their defensive skills because it played into what they are good at. It just needed something a little bit different.

I thought it was a really good performance in terms of spirit, physicality, attitude. They didn't give up, they kept probing, they were slinging balls into the box all night.

It was just a bit one-dimensional, would be my only criticism.

Arsenal

There was some pretty damning reaction to Wednesday's defeat from Arsenal fans getting in touch with BBC Sport:

Another fully deserved loss. Two in the space of a week. Impotent in the attack. Waiting until the 82nd minute to finally bring Nwaneri on was an absolute joke. Another truly frustrating watch as an Arsenal fan tonight. - Nick

Arteta's project? is over. It's finished Mikel. You ain't motivating anybody. Time to go. The team have stopped playing for the manager. Edu Gaspar has gone. Something has happened inside the club. We are nothing like we were last season. - Steve

Good riddance Edu Gaspar. Our failure to sign an attacker over the last three years has been the difference between us becoming one of the most successful sides in football history, or being football's nearly men. A lack of investment means we are firmly in the latter camp. - Lee

Why is Arteta so slow to make substitutions? Slot on Tuesday made such timely subs that changed the game. - Amanda

Arsenal are devoid of ideas. As an Arsenal fan for 30 years, it’s frustrating to see a team so absent of attacking intent in recent times. Arteta has this season but with the lack of discipline and ideas and Edu walking away, I’d be struggling to see how he’d keep the job after this season if another year of no silverware. - Ryan

If you agree, or have a more positive outlook on Arteta's project than any of the contributors above, then do get in touch via all the usual channels.

#bbcfootball, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)

Image source, Getty Images

The Guardian

Finally from today's newspapers, the Guardian leads on Arsenal "paying the penalty" as Inter Milan "hold off Gunners after harsh handball call".

Image source, Guardian

Izzy Christiansen
Former England midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

I feel so sorry for [Tyrone Mings] because he's clearly just had a moment of madness. I feel like in training we've all been there before, when we've had a little moment where we're playing handball and you control it with your foot. Sometimes coaches put on a drill where it makes you think and he has gone through that but in a serious situation.

It was just a moment where he lost his thought processes. I think he's had a really tough road back from injury and I'm sure his team-mates and Unai Emery will be around him, supporting him, but that was a real moment of madness and one he will want to forget quickly.

The Daily Mail

The back page of today's Mail is dominated by an image of Tyrone Mings after the bizarre incident which saw him concede a penalty for handball against Club Brugge.

Image source, Daily Mail

Julien Laurens
French football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

I love it (the new Champions League format). We've had big games, drama, we have controversies all the time.

We have big players who are struggling, like at Real Madrid, [Kylian] Mbappe and Vinicius Jr really struggled again on Tuesday and we had smaller players making a name for themselves, so I think it's been great.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

I suspect many will only really start to focus on the detail around the Champions League (and Europa League) tables for the final two league phase matches in January but there is a definite benefit to finishing in the top eight because it means avoiding a two-legged play-off in January.

Manchester City's 4-1 hammering by Sporting means they are currently 10th, with Arsenal two places behind them.

Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are other big names in the play-off picture just now, while Paris St-Germain would be eliminated completely - no clubs drop down from the Champions League to the Europa League, as used to be the case.

The Times

The back page of the Times mentions Arsenal and Aston Villa's Champions League defeats on Wednesday but leads on Premier League clubs reportedly being told that Viktor Gyokeres will be available for £63m next summer.

Image source, The Times

Arsenal are sure to face competition for Viktor Gyokeres, though, with today's gossip column saying that Manchester United and Chelsea will "lead the race" for the Sportingstriker next summer. Click below to read the gossip column in full:

• BBC Sport Gossip column

Coventry City played their part in helping Viktor Gyokeres become arguably Europe's next top striker.

Here's a reminder of what Viktor Gyokeres did against Manchester City on Tuesday, when he scored Sporting's equaliser before converting two second-half penalties to complete his hat-trick and seal a 4-1 victory.

Arsenal attempted 20 shots in their defeat at San Siro - their most without scoring in a single Champions League fixture since November 2006 against CSKA Moscow (23).

Mikel Arteta's side created an Expected goals (xG) of 1.79 from those 20 shots but could not find the breakthrough.

The Gunners have also failed to score at all in their last four away games in Europe, losing three times and drawing once.

There was a lot of talk over the summer over whether Arsenal need to sign a big money striker in order to make the next step and win the Premier League and Champions League. That is likely to continue with links to Sporting Lisbon's Victor Gyokeres continuing to appear frequently in the BBC Sport gossip column...

Image source, BBC Sport

The Daily Telegraph

Arsenal can consider themselves unlucky with penalty decisions against them during Wednesday's 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan but, as today's Telegraph says, they also struggled in front of goal at the San Siro.

Image source, Daily Telegraph

BBC Sounds

Steve Crossman is joined by Marc Albrighton, Matt Upson and John Murray in the Champions League Debrief - you can listen to the latest episode as part of the Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds.

The panel assess Wednesday's defeats for Arsenal and Aston Villa, while commentary team Alistair Bruce-Ball and Chris Sutton join them to discuss the bizarre penalty that led to Villa's first Champions League loss of the season.

Plus, John Bennett joins the pod to wrap up Wednesday’s other Champions League results.

We will feature some of the top lines from the show throughout the morning, alternatively, use this link to listen to the Champions League Debrief podcast in full.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on Tyrone Mings' handball: "His mistake is completely strange. It's the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career.

"We can make a mistake in the build-up, we work to try to control the games through keeping possession and trying to stop the possession and we did that in the first half fantastic.

"We lost one or two balls, but we were always in the position to recover, but this mistake is very, very strange.

"It's only happened one time in all my life."

Julien Laurens
French football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

[Tyrone Mings' handball was] really strange. Do you remember the Arsenal-Bayern Munich game last season at the Emirates? Gabriel does the same and the referee, I think, bottles it that time and doesn't give a penalty when it should have been a penalty and Thomas Tuchel was quite angry about it.

This time the referee was quite far away because he was ready for the goal-kick. No hesitation, it's definitely a penalty. I'm not really sure what Tyrone Mings was thinking, if he didn't hear the whistle, if he felt under pressure, if there was something, but Unai Emery was right. It's the biggest mistake you see ever.

[Ezri] Konsa came for an interview after and he said that it's something nobody wants to see, especially if you are an Aston Villa fan or player.

It's been quite a week in Europe's top competition, hasn't it?

From Manchester City's nightmare in Lisbon to Arsenal's frustration in Milan.

We're now at the halfway stage of the league phase. Are you enjoying it? Is the league now taking shape?

There are some eye-catching placings - Liverpool top, Aston Villa down to eighth, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid down in 17th and 18th respectively and PSG are currently missing the cut altogether.

So as we approach the second half of the league phase, will things get more desperate for those struggling? And are you hopeful of your team's chances?

Let us know what you think!