This was one of the big-name fixtures that the new Champions League was sold on - more games between the best, more fixtures, more, more, more - and yet it didn't really feel like either side treated it as a match of much consequence. It was a world away, say, from 2000-01 when Lyon came to North London and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal absolutely knew they had to do something.
If it is by now becoming tedious to read about these issues, it is worth remembering that such themes only arise because very little of consequence happens on the pitch. Here, in just the second of eight games, Arsenal got the win that already puts them more than half-way to the top 24. PSG, by contrast, already had their victory from the opening 1-0 win over Girona. It consequently felt like both teams were looking at the game in a wider context, rather than necessarily treating it as an exacting Champions League occasion in itself.
This is the reality of this Swiss system in action, at least in this economic framework.
There was little doubt about the result from the 20th minute, once Kai Havertz had scored a fine headed goal on what was a bad night for Gianluigi Donnarumma. He was beaten to Leandro Trossard's cross for that moment and then let a Bukayo Saka free-kick cross bounce straight in past him for the second.
It was no more than Arsenal deserved, given both goals came in a period where they had been rampant. That was maybe inevitable, since they are at this point a much more advanced team than PSG.
Denne historien er fra October 02, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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Denne historien er fra October 02, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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