Arsenal will derive a great deal of confidence from their 7-1 mauling of PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday and the Premier League club are determined to keep the momentum rolling, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Arsenal registered their biggest away win in European club competition, putting themselves in a virtually unassailable position to advance to the quarter-finals, where they would face either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid.
The North London side, who had failed to score in their previous two league matches, arrived in Eindhoven with their Premier League title hopes hanging by a thread after falling 13 points behind leaders Liverpool.
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“It obviously gives us a lot of joy, confidence and belief, and then in football, it’s not what we did three days ago, or today, it’s about what we’re going to do tomorrow, or at Old Trafford, how we behave and able to win again,” Arteta told reporters. “Enjoy tonight, because it was a very impressive performance, an unbelievable score, so we deserve that, and now take that, and keep improving as a team.”
“It’s something that hasn’t been done so it’s great to be a part of that [on achieving their biggest away win in the Champions League], but as a team we want to achieve many other things that are far more important than that,” he said.
Arteta also backed Ethan Nwaneri to maintain his performance levels after the 17-year-old winger once again impressed with a fine display and scored Arsenal’s second goal.
Photo: AFP
“I don’t think that he needs any pushing. You see him every time he has the ball what the intention is, so if he comes, he comes, and it’s great and really impressive again the way he behaved, the way he played,” Arteta added.
The other scorers were Martin Odegaard, who got two, and Leandro Trossard, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino. A silly foul from Thomas Partey on Luuk de Jong in the box gave PSV their goal, with Noa Lang converting.
Arsenal next play 14th-placed Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.
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On a good night for Premier League teams, Aston Villa won 3-1 against Club Brugge.
Elsewhere, a superb goal from Brahim Diaz helped Real Madrid maintain their dominance of the Madrid derby on Europe’s biggest stage with a 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Atletico have been beaten by the record 15-time European champions in both of their Champions League final matchups and have won only three of 11 meetings with their city rivals in UEFA competitions.
Photo: AP
Playing at home at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid took the lead on their first chance through a great goal from Rodrygo. After being picked up down the flank, he cut inside the box, was too fast for defenders and beautifully curled the ball into the back of the net.
“It stemmed from a nice ball from Fede Valverde,” Rodrygo said. “He absolutely read my movement and put the ball in behind the man covering me. I made a little dribble inside and then smashed it off my left.”
Atletico waited patiently for an opportunity. It came in the 32nd minute and Julian Alvarez seized it with a spectacular strike. The forward collected the ball down the left, cut inside the box and curled the ball past Thibaut Courtois for his seventh goal in the tournament this season.
“I leave with the feeling that we competed well,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “We could have done more in terms of the goals we conceded. We must continue with this rhythm for the second leg, which will be tough and difficult, and in which we will have the support of our fans.”
A tense encounter in the Spanish capital was decided by a moment of individual brilliance. Diaz scored the winner for Real Madrid after squeezing past a couple of Atletico players and curling a low strike into the far corner in the 55th minute.
Diego Simeone’s team could not change the script after losing finals to Madrid in 2014 and 2016. They were also eliminated the other two times they faced off in the knockout rounds — in the 2015 quarter-finals and 2017 semi-finals.
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund are evenly matched with Lille OSC ahead of the second leg after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s goal salvaged a 1-1 draw for the French team.
Dortmund led thanks to Karim Adeyemi’s low shot from outside the box in the 22nd minute, but Canada forward Jonathan David sliced open the Dortmund defense with a through-ball in the 68th for Haraldsson to level the score.
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