Back to Highbury for the Champions' League return leg against Real Madrid, and I had no confidence whatsoever that Arsenal would be able to finish the job they started in the Bernabeu 2 weeks ago. Apparently, only 4 teams have ever recovered from losing a Champions' League first leg at home, but if anybody can do it, Madrid can. Away goals (especially late ones) counting double just threaten to add to the hazards that are already plentiful when you play against this lot.
Chelsea losing to Barcelona last night was very amusing indeed, but we knew that we had to survive the following 24 hours before gloating at them too much. I had a seat in the West Stand for this one, which, thanks to Ticketmaster's website crashing more regularly than normal, has been far too common an occurrence this season.
Arsenal started with the expected line up, Fabregas and Reyes again in the side, presumably because it is fairly obvious that Madrid hated playing against them first time around. The story of the game was that throughout 90 minutes of utter hell for the watching Arsenal fans, the team weathered the storm, and got the result they needed to get into the last 8. A 0-0 draw between Arsenal and Real Madrid seemed somewhat unlikely, but that's how it turned out.
During the game, Lehmann stood out with a masterful performance, and one incredible save in particular. Hleb for me, despite an indifferent review in the following morning's tabloids, was commanding throughout. And, the defence with the average age of 22, with Flamini playing left back against the England captain, were of course outstanding. This starting 11 should be retained in full for the next round, because they look capable of getting the better of anybody - and, pleasingly, of doing the physical work needed to get results in this competition.
One reason I'm especially glad that Madrid were knocked out was their bad sportsmanship. Roberto Carlos, as well as being wholly overrated, gave one of the most niggly displays I think I've ever seen - dirty fouls, gamesmanship, and all the other tricks in the book. Guti wasn't much better, and Zidane and Ronaldo (surely the fattest footballer in the entire world), just flitted between disinterest and low level cheating, probably out of frustration that they are both now shadows of their former selves.
The referee didn't help calm Arsenal fans, he seemed to think that Zidane falling over warranted a free kick on every occasion, despite the fact that the surface was very wet and greasy, and that Zidane seemed perfectly adept at falling over without the help of any Arsenal players. The number of times he helpfully gave Madrid a lucky free kick in Beckham or Carlos territory started to get downright suspicious towards the end.
But, none of the obstacles derailed Arsenal tonight - we completed the job of knocking the biggest club in the world out of Europe. Real Madrid are far from being a team at the peak of their game right now, in fact they were arguably there for the taking for Arsenal. Even so, achievements like this don't happen every week, so this is a big one. The West Stand was rocking all evening - you know you're at an unusual game when that happens.
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