We're really all about Europe now, as the excitement of this week's brilliant games enlivened this run-in in a way that was badly required, and much appreciated. It's almost like the Premier League weekend is a mere prelude... |
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| Written by Miguel Delaney |
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| The story of Arsenal's greatest Champions League night |
From the players absolutely believing they were going to win beforehand to Mikel Arteta's tactics, a change he made mid-game, and some Arsenal frustration with Jude Bellingham, the full story of that 3-0 victory over Real Madrid is here. There are some pointers for what comes next, too... |
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| United's odd night dominated by one man |
A lovely line from my colleague Richard Jolly on Andre Onana's European travails: "The man who may have talked too much, contrived to have the final say". You can read more here. |
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| | Players surprised at Europa League's instant karma |
The very public spat between Andre Onana and Nemanja Matic was spectacular, and almost gloriously old-fashioned - although the actual match showed why players don't engage in a war of words as much anymore. Some of it is just media training but players generally don't go in this direction because of the potential for embarrassment, possibly immediate embarrassment. Some players involved were a bit stunned. In Spain, figures close to David De Gea – who Matic is friends with – were keen to point out how "miraculously" he performed for Fiorentina in their Conference League win over NK Celje. It can of course go the other way. While Onana was at fault for both goals in Manchester United's 2-2 draw at Lyon, there's still a second leg to come. Some at Old Trafford have mentioned similar with Angel Di Maria in 2019. The Argentinian forward revelled in Paris Saint-Germain's 2-0 first-leg victory, pretending to drink from a bottle, only for United to win 3-1 in the second leg through Marcus Rashford's stoppage-time penalty. Ange Postecoglou doesn't seem a believer in any kind of karma, however, at least for Tottenham Hotspur. He was talking about how the "football gods seem to have their eyes elsewhere" this season. That wasn't intended to mean his team are fated to not win the Europa League. Quite the opposite: that they have to be prepared to fight for everything. In the longer term, United have had a look at goalkeepers such as Brighton's Bart Verbruggen and Burnley's James Trafford, but they have so many positions to address elsewhere that it's eminently possible they don't move for a goalkeeper. Much will depend on the extent of transfer business they're able to do. |
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| Off-field issues again raising emotions |
Real Madrid are already trying to conjure "a comeback atmosphere" for their second leg against Arsenal. The club have something "special" planned for before the match, and they're already surrounding the players with talk of "the spirit of Juanito". That is the cult hero from the 1970s and 1980s that was central to their biggest comebacks in Europe. Madrid can lean on the mentality of opposition in other ways. The usual reward for beating them is transfer interest in even more of your players. Figures close to the club get the chatter going. An interest in William Saliba and Gabriel was already known, but there is now talk of how Madrid were struck by the performances of Bukayo Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Mikel Arteta has already been rallying his players to shut all of that out. Liverpool, of course, know it well given the Trent Alexander-Arnold saga, which made the news this week that they've sealed a new contract for Mohamed Salah and are close to re-signing Virgil van Dijk all the more important. Salah never wanted to leave. Al Hilal were very keen, but the Egyptian had no desire to go there at this point. It is still likely to be a summer of significant change at Anfield though, with a few signings expected... |
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I attended Arsenal rather than Aston Villa in the Champions League this week and it was a genuinely special atmosphere, that naturally infused the game. You could feel it beforehand with the presence of so many past players, including a few who played in that famous 2005-06 victory. While Philippe Senderos stayed chatting intently with Gio van Bronckhorst and Lukasz Fabianski, Thierry Henry was quickly whisked through the media room for his CBS duties, where he was joined pitchside by Robert Pires. It was a real 'event' at Arsenal, given the number of celebrities at the game, too. Dua Lipa was another there, for example. The shock that Real Madrid felt could be sensed in considerable agitation and frustration behind the scenes. There were some harsh words within the camp, although not from Carlo Ancelotti in public. He has rarely been as subdued as he was in the aftermath. |
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| Bukayo Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly were superb but, given the impact on such a game and given how he'd never scored a free-kick before, it has to be Declan Rice. The aesthetic quality of either goal against Real Madrid would almost have been enough on its own. |
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Last week's Champions League predictions (Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter and PSG) are currently looking pretty good, but we're of course only halfway there. I'll stick with the four, and go further: individual game predictions. Arsenal to be narrowly beaten by a late goal in Real Madrid; Internazionale to draw with Bayern Munich; Barcelona to beat Borussia Dortmund away and PSG to beat Aston Villa away. |
Every week I'll make one prediction or talking point for the week. Feel free to email in with thoughts. |
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Before Arsenal on Tuesday, there had only been 11 occasions when an English club scored three or more in an individual European Cup/Champions League knock-out leg against either Real Madrid or Barcelona. Name the 11 games, including the years. Note: group stages don't count as there are more capacities for dead rubbers. Two were in the old European Cup, and are naturally harder. Obviously, the same English team can be in more than once.
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