REAL MADRID UP NEXT: WE'RE BACK BABY!

PSV HUMBLED.

What a wonderfully weird old night at The Emirates for Arsenal.

No pressure.

No angst.

No bad news.

Just a lot of fun watching a heavily rotated team keep things perfectly boring in the Champions League.

Those watching at home were probably split-screening the game—and the Madrid match was a fun one to follow. My big fear was Atleti in the next round. Less talent, but more shithousery, and probably the only team in the last 16 that would have no shame about a dirty mid-block for 180 minutes. With all our players fit, we’d beat them… without our stars, it would have been a very tall order.

Madrid? I mean. Very good. Very good. But… they aren’t that well-structured defensively, and they give up a lot of chances over the course of 90 minutes. You have to be able to contain their sensational attack, but we go into that tie as one of the best defensive outfits on the planet. If we re-engineer the forward line with Bukayo, Martinelli, and Nwaneri… why couldn’t we cause them some problems?