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Key events
12 mins: It’s been a very promising start from Arsenal, carving out a couple of chances and not letting their hosts apply any pressure.
11 mins: Declan Rice picks up the ball on the corner of the area, swivels and fires a shot into the bottom corner. Unfortunately for him, the flag had long since gone up. It was a tight one, but Rice’s left leg was stretched beyond the last man.
Rodrygo has fired Real Madrid in front against Atlético early on. They’re going to win it again, aren’t they?
8 mins: Big appeal for an Arsenal penalty as Odegaard gets free in the area, sidesteps his marker and then goes over. The referee is well placed and waves the appeals away – and replays show that Odegaard kicked the turf without any contact from Saibari behind him.
6 mins: Nwaneri floats in a lovely ball to the far post, which Gabriel sends back across goal – but it flashes across Mikel Merino’s forehead, and away to safety.
5 mins: The commentary team refer to the Guardian’s “cheeky reference to the round of Arsenal” earlier today. Wahey! If you’re playing the Football Daily drinking game, have a sip of peppermint tea.
4 mins: Saibari steps through the Arsenal midfield and has options either side – but he misplaces his pass and the chance goes begging.
2 mins: Lewis-Skelly tries to slip a pass through to Odegaard, but just overhits it. PSV, by the way, are coming off consecutive league and Cup defeats to Go Ahead Eagles – one of the great European team names.
Peep!
Off we go. Ivan Perisic, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur or Spurs, concedes an early free kick deep in Arsenal’s half.
The teams are out to a rocking atmosphere, with red and white flags fluttering and Kernkraft 400 blasting out over the PA. Arsenal are in their black away kit with red and green trim. Let’s do this!
And here’s Declan Rice: “The schedule* has allowed us to not have a game on the weekend. It has been nice as we’ve had time to prepare. Big game tonight, big test for us, you can never overlook any opponent in the Champions league. We come here last season and drew the game so we know it’s going to be really tough.”
*[not being in the FA Cup]
In the UK at least, this game is being shown on Amazon Prime Video. They’ve taken a very access-all-areas approach, with Bosz being quizzed by Gabriel Clarke on the sideline. We’ve also seen Gabby Logan and punditry trio Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge (in a statement scarf) strolling through the centre circle.
Pre-game thoughts from the PSV coach, Peter Bosz. “It’s fantastic to be in the last 16, and we want to win this duel and go even further. We showed what we can do against Juventus.”
Will he send his players out to attack? “Always. It’s who we are,” he adds, channelling his inner Ange. “We have to work hard, play with courage and do our best.”
All over in Bruges, where it’s finished Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa. A quarter-final against either Liverpool or PSG surely awaits.
An own goal and late Marco Asensio penalty have put Aston Villa 3-1 up in Bruges. One foot in the quarter-finals?
Pre-match reading:
You can also join Yara El-Shaboury for live updates from Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid, which is probably going to be decent.
Team news
PSV (4-2-3-1): Benítez; Ledezma, Flamingo, Boscagli, Malacia; Saibari, Schouten; Perisic, Til, Lang; Luuk de Jong (c).
Substitutes: Drommel, Schiks, Karsdorp, Obispo, Bakayoko, Driouech, Veerman, Babadi, Land, Nagalo.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Partey, Rice, Ødegaard (c); Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Sterling, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia.
The story so far: Arsenal made serene progress from the Champions League’s opening 36-team Royal Rumble, beating PSG, Shakhtar, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona on their way to a third-place finish. The only blots on their record came on away days in Italy – drawing 0-0 with Atalanta and losing 1-0 to Inter at San Siro.
As for PSV, they started slowly, losing to Juventus and drawing with PSG and Sporting before getting their first win at home to Girona. A remarkable late fightback saw them beat Shakhtar 3-2 from 2-0 down in the 86th minute, and although they then lost to Brest, wins at Red Star Belgrade and at home to a rotated Liverpool saw them through in 14th place.
Drawn against Juve again, PSV lost 2-1 in Turin but won the return leg 3-1 in extra time to advance. Feyenoord’s victory over Milan means that two Dutch teams are in the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time since 2005-06 (PSV and Ajax).
In the early kick-off, Aston Villa got off to a flying start through Leon Bailey, but have been pegged back by Club Brugge. It’s 1-1 at half-time, and you can join Will Unwin for that game:
Preamble
Out of both domestic cups and 13 points behind Liverpool in the title race, the Champions League now represents Arsenal’s best chance at a trophy this season. After finishing third in the 36-team league phase, they should be considered among the favourites, but their potential path through the draw is a tough one.
Should Arsenal get past PSV over two legs, a showdown with either Real or Atlético Madrid awaits Mikel Arteta’s depleted squad. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Tonight’s opponents may have wobbled in the league, slipping behind leaders Ajax in Arsenalesque fashion, but they dispatched Juventus in the playoffs to get here.
There is also some previous to consider between the two clubs; Arteta has taken on PSV four times in Europe with decidedly mixed results – 1-0, 0-2, 4-0 and 1-1. Back in 2007, the Dutch side dumped Arsène Wenger’s mob out of the Champions League at this stage, adding another few stitches to the rich tapestry of Arsenal’s continental woes.
Can Arteta and his players begin rewriting that story tonight, in the Round of Arsenal? Eindhoven is 450 miles from Munich, and the final feels even further away – but every journey starts with a small step. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, 9pm local time.
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