The crowd were getting anxious and players are either missing or off form but they have still reached the Champions League semi-finals
And so I am become a meme. Towards the end of this game, already booked for standing on the edge of the pitch whirling his arms in a balletic, immaculately groomed pose of horror, like an oversized wedding cake figurine at the world’s most distressing wedding, Mikel Arteta could be seen pulling his jumper up over his eyes to obscure the spectacle in front of him. Not so fast, Mikel. We’re all in this together you know.
At the final whistle, with a controlled, job-done 0-0 safely in the bag, Arteta could be seen striding out in front of the post-match column of Arsenal players, conducting the crowd, an urgent, compact, dark-haired figure with, from a distance, something of the business-casual Tom Cruise about him.
And by that stage the dominant note inside the Emirates was relief: at a successfully concluded second leg; and also, it should be said, just a concluded one. This was a difficult watch once again.
Sporting Lisbon are the kind of team you will have these nights against, gnarly and obstructive, a kind of footballing knotweed. And Arsenal will be hugely pleased with this result. Eight clean sheets. Another date ticked off. They’re in the semis now, with Atlético Madrid plus one other team between them and a first Champions League title. This is only good. Maybe this is just how you win things. Even if it didn’t exactly feel like it.
