Arsenal made their first appearance in the Champions League since the 2016-17 season on Wednesday night as they hosted PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates, wasting little time to make Mikel Arteta's pre-match words ring true
After six years in the relative wilderness that is being away from European football’s premier club competition, Arsenal returned to the Champions League on Wednesday night… and they came back with a bang.
And front and centre in the seconds before kickoff was Oleksandr Zinchenko screaming “come on, f****** come on” to further enliven an already boisterous crowd, with the excitement of both they and this Arsenal crop crystal clear. For the rest, this was a new experience, including boss Mikel Arteta, managing in the competition for the first time. He had insisted before the game: “We’ve been chasing and fighting for it and now we’ve got it we have to make the most out of it.”Within eight minutes, Saka had opened the scoring with his first Champions League goal, the England star reacting quickest to Odegaard’s low shot which goalkeeper Walter Benitez could only parry, firing low into the net.
In the 38th minute, it was effectively game over. Gabriel clipped a wonderful pass down the left side for Trossard to chase down, the Belgian waited patiently, picked out Jesus at the far post, and the Brazilian took a touch before ruthlessly fired into the far corner. The most experienced of all his teammates in this competition, it was his 21st goal in 39 games at Europe's top table.
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