I have to say, based on what I thought we’d have yesterday evening against a PSV side that must have know the jig is up after the final whistle went on the first leg last week, I didn’t picture that there’d be much in offer on a relatively chilly night in North London yesterday evening.

The club did its best to gee up proceedings with a light display, some emotive music and the now customary early rendition of North London Forever before the Champions League anthem (gotta keep up those brand perceptions, boys and girls), but as I took to my usual seat you could tell that this was going to be a muted affair. Of the eight to 12 blokes that sit around me in Block Five yesterday, only two others were familiar; it was clear that this was an evening where many had decided to stay away and the result was a slightly disjointed collective of songs being half-heartedly sung out.

Everyone knew the score. Everyone knew the situation.

It was still nice to see Zinchenko cut in field and curl the ball in for the first one though. With Arteta ringing the changes (and going proper banter with KT at left wing) as many expected, this was an Arsenal team clearly told to “get out there, get some minutes in those legs, don’t fuck it up” and after 20 minutes we may have been pegged back by that irritant Perisic from a pretty poor goal defensively, but the game had all the hallmarks of a testimonial feel at times and we felt at times like we were playing it that way.

It very much felt like we were trying to get players up to speed. Ben White got done a few times on the turn and the usual yard of pace he has was clearly not there as he attempts to get his engine back up and running to full power.

But the rust in a few players showed I thought. Kiwior was hesitant at times and had one hospital ball in the middle of the park that thankfully didn’t result in anything. Zinchenko looked ok in the middle but was hardly inspiring. Merino up top again tended to flit in and out of the game.

And Sterling, oh Sterling…the fact that one of the blokes next to me said that his cross for Rice’s header for our second goal was the “best thing he’s done all season” pretty much sums up where we are with him. To give Raheem his props it was a good ball, but I guess he gives with one hand and takes away with another, because in that first half at the end of it he should have made it 3-1 when put in on goal. His attempted finish was that of a man lacking confidence in front of goal and even though he was ‘in’, I personally never felt he would do anything other than fluff his lines. Sadly that’s exactly what happened.

There was another PSV goal for their bouncy fans to get excited about to draw it level on the night. I suspect Jorginho won’t want to be the first one in the video room at London Colney today with the part he had to play in the middle of the park, but it’s the sort of goal you concede when you’re 9-2 up on aggregate and all you’re thinking about is whether on bit the missus has a late night Shepherd’s Pie or Lasagne in the oven when you get home. I suspect Jorgi is a man who likes the pasta sheets.

And we like trips to Madrid. Which is just as well because that was guaranteed before a ball was kicked in this tie. We’ve gone out to Atleti a few times in the past and I can only remember one game against Real Madrid over two legs, in which Henry won it for us in the Bernabeu, which is the spirit of that performance we’ll need in our next match up because it’s Real that we’ll face. But much like United in the Premier League in the 90s, there was something a little fishy about the fact that one of Atleti’s penalty kicks was ruled out for a double tap. I’ve watched the videos, the slowed down footage, etc and it doesn’t look like it was a double tap to me. I’ve seen suggestion that Real would have won anyway, but there’s a psychological impact on those penalty takers who come after you if you’re already behind. The pressure is ramped up and that’s what impacts players. Whether it would have been enough to see Atletico through or not I’m not sure, but Real Madrid always seem to get the rub of the green when it comes to this competition, so let’s just hope for some honest refereeing when they come to ours in a few weeks time. 

We have to hope for a returning Saka to be back in to the side. Arteta was able to rotate heavily yesterday, but that won’t be the case against Madrid, so we have to hope that Saka is back and fit for that game which is four week’s on Tuesday. Somebody said to me yesterday evening that Zinchenko had snapped an Instagram picture in which Saka was pictured back in training already. We all have to hope that this is true and if Arsenal have been keeping him back, making sure that injury is fully healed, involving him in training and we’ll see him after the international break, that could be a huge boost to our attacking options. We will still miss that focal point at the tip of the attack, but with Trossard, Martinelli, Saka and Nwaneri all potentially back for that Champions League tie, suddenly we’re looking like we have some options back available to us and we all have to be more than happy about that.

There’s not really a lot else to say on last night’s game, so I’ll stick a pin in it and be back tomorrow, as we look ahead to Chelsea at home. See you then.