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Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). A couple of decent crosses into the Arsenal box from the right by Aleix García. The first is met by Jarell Quansah, who flashes a header wide left. The second is well cleared by Gabriel, with Patrik Schick lurking. Arsenal now ten minutes plus stoppages away from a quarter-final tie with Sporting.
Chelsea 0-3 PSG (agg 2-8). Chelsea look for the mother of all consolations. Alejandro Garnacho cuts in from the left and shoots, but straight at the keeper. A lot of empty seats around Stamford Bridge now. The PSG fans in fine voice.
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). Malik Tillman sends a corner in from the right. David Raya comes off his line and flaps. The ball clanks off William Saliba and could go anywhere. Over rather than in. A lucky break. From the next corner, Arsenal launch a counter, but Cristhian Mosquera ends up gifting the ball to Janis Blaswich, with team-mates queuing up to score.
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). Leandro Trossard crosses from the left. Bukayo Saka heads back across the face of goal. From close range, Kai Havertz puts the ball into the net against his old club. But it’s not going to stand, because it pinged off his hand, which was also full of Malik Tillman’s shirt at the time. A double whammy.
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). Eberechi Eze, his work done, goes off for a sit down. On that subject, here’s Palace fan MS: “Eze needs to send a thank-you note to Jared Bowen for his Arsenal transfer. Had Bowen accepted Palace’s terms back in 2020, they would not have bought Eze. Some clown club would have picked Eze up and utterly screwed his career by overplaying him, or trying to control him. Only Hodgson and Glasner, with a little Vieira mixed in, could have created the current version that thrills the Emirates. Oh, yeah, playing a while with Michael Olise probably was good for both of their careers, eh? You’re freakin welcome, Arsenal (and Bayern). But up the Palace!”
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). That goal came just as Leverkusen were beginning to pose some threat. Arsenal with two crackers. And there’s nearly a third, as Eberechi Eze turns into space and slaloms his way down the middle. His shot is blocked. He had the option to feed Bukayo Saka to his right, but was entitled to have a go himself having done so much work.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (Rice 63); agg 3-1
Declan Rice in a pocket of space just outside the Leverkusen D. He creams a low drive towards the bottom right … curling outside the post then back in. Janis Blaswich rooted to the spot, and Arsenal are so close to the quarters now!
GOAL! Chelsea 0-3 PSG (Mayula 62): agg 2-8
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia advances down the right. His low cross isn’t cleared, and drops to Senny Mayulu, who whips a shot into the top right. Robert Sánchez had no chance. Fans pour through the exit gates.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). This game is opening up. Viktor Gyökeres barrels down the right and crosses low. Jarell Quansah hooks clear just as Piero Hincapié prepares to tap home.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). Leverkusen are enjoying a productive few minutes. The ball comes into the Arsenal box from the left. Christian Kofane is penalised for fouling Gabriel, who goes over absurdly easily. Gabriel was trusting the ref to fall for that one, and it’s just as well he did, because Jarell Quansah was onto the loose ball and preparing to shoot.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). A rare attack for Leverkusen, Ibrahim Maza sashaying down the middle and seeing his shot blocked by Gabriel. “I thought you might like to know that the forward slash / is more pretentiously known as solidus,” begins Artie Prendergast-Smith promisingly. “This opens up the potential for countless hilarious/stupid jokes of the ‘Bodø/Glimt weren’t very solidus at the back tonight ha ha’ variety. Of course, maybe you already knew this and chose not to stoop to this level of humour. I have no such scruples.” You do yourself down. Zinger of the year in my book. Mid-March and it’s already in the bag.
Chelsea 0-2 PSG (agg 2-7). A quiet start to the second half at the Bridge. The visitors have brought on Senny Mayulu, who put the cherry on the icing on the cake for PSG in last season’s final rout of Inter. Chelsea aren’t the first team PSG have taken to school, and they won’t be the last.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). Leandro Trossard has been lively tonight, and here he is, sending a power curler towards the top right from 25 yards. Only just wide. Janis Blaswich wasn’t getting there. Somewhere in the multiverse, Trossard is now celebrating a hat-trick. The small margins.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). Exequiel Palacios is booked for a late lunge on an in-flight Eberechi Eze. Viktor Gyökeres stops to wait for the whistle and the free kick, when he could have raced off towards the Bayer box. This not compute with TNT’s Ally McCoist (405 goals in 777 career appearances).
Half-time/full-time† Postbag. “So that’s it for Bodø/Glimt then, schooled by a better team, when their own attackers fell into the same trap as the Sporting strikers did in Bodø and the pressing up front fell apart. Question is, do I bother enduring Liverpool 1 Galatasaray 3 tomorrow, or do I just cancel my relevant TV subscription right away tonight?” – Jan Egil Romestrand
“The partisanship of some of the English commentators on the Chelsea v PSG game is utterly ludicrous. Barcola got absolutely no credit for a beautiful finish with all the focus being on how bad Chelsea’s defending was. I mean, it was bad but surely a bit of appreciation is due to a wonderful football team” – Stephen McCrossan
“What a stunner from Eze! An excellent purchase by Arsenal who are potentially on their way to an unprecedented double. The only drawback is that progress in the Champions League might hamper their Premier League aspirations. But the vibe is positive, augmented by the explosion of the teenage sensation Dowman” – Colum Fordham
“The Arsenal–Leverkusen game seems to be developing in ways pleasing to the home fans. The mixture much the same as before, with the bonus of Saka looking a bit more lively and even taking on his man down the side once or twice. You can imagine Miles Lewis Skelly looking on rather glumly as Piero Hincapie continues to channel dear old Ashley Cole at the back. Generally solid in all other departments. More, please, in the second half” – Charles Antaki
“I’m happy for Sporting’s Luis Suarez. Think about how many times the man has had to say: ‘Not the one that bites people’ ” – Zach Neeley
†: Forward slash in today’s Postbag heading courtesy of / a homage to ill-fated heroes Bodø/Glimt
HALF TIME: Chelsea 0-2 PSG (agg 2-7)
Chelsea depart to boos. This huddle doesn’t seem to be working out, does it?
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1)
Eberechi Eze the difference-maker with an absolute pearler. Leverkusen have shown very little in attack, and unless they get a wriggle on in the second half, Arsenal are sauntering stylishly into the quarter-finals, where they’re slated to meet Sporting Club of Lisbon.
Chelsea 0-2 PSG (agg 2-7). Chelsea are pressing for something before the break. Jorrel Hato’s header is clawed out by Matvei Safonov for a corner … from which PSG nearly score. Bradley Barcola races up the right wing on the counter, enters the box, and tries to poke into the bottom right. Robert Sanchez spreads himself to block, and nothing comes of the resulting corner. That would have put the tin lid on Chelsea’s nightmare first half.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). Gyokeres is skittled to the right of the Bayer D. The free kick’s worked right to left, but Rice can’t find Gyokeres with his cross. Arsenal well on top.
Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 2-1). Trossard gave Eze the pass down the channel there. He’s been superb tonight, too. But what about Eze? Shades of Thierry Henry about the turn and whipped finish, the perfect mix of precision, poise and power. You’ll be seeing that goal again, once or twice.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (Eze 36); agg 2-1
Janis Blaswich has made some amazing saves, but he’s not stopping this one! A ball down the inside-left channel. Eze, facing the wrong way, spins to his right, swivels, and launches a screamer into the top left from 25 yards! That’s an outrageously good way to open your Champions League goal account!
Chelsea 0-2 PSG (agg 2-7). Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has the ball in the bottom-right corner of the Chelsea goal again … but the one-two that set up the shot was with an offside Bradley Barcola. The pair enjoy a joke despite it all. Or because of it, depending on which way you look at it.
Arsenal 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1). Leverkusen are beginning to make mistakes, and here’s another from Aleix García, who clanks a simple pass out of play for an Arsenal corner. Saka goes short, back up the flank. Eze rolls infield for Trossard, who pearls another shot through a crowded box. Janis Blaswich parries, and the rebound disappears into a tangle of legs. Heroic work by Jarell Quansah, who somehow retains possession despite having fallen over, keeping his leg pressed over the ball. Blaswich eventually snaffles.
Arsenal 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1). Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix García confuse each other near the centre circle, allowing Bukayo Saka to advance on the penalty box and shoot for the top right. Janis Blaswich saves. Then Blaswich makes an even more outrageous stop, Leandro Trossard creaming a shot through a crowded box towards the bottom right, the keeper sticking out a leg to somehow deflect the ball across the face of goal and out to the left. Arsenal well on top now, and looking good for the opener soon.
Chelsea 0-2 PSG (agg 2-7). Thing is, Chelsea have enjoyed 58 percent of possession so far. So much for the benefits of respecting the ball.
FULL TIME: Sporting 5-0 Bodø/Glimt (aet; 3-0 after 90 mins, agg 5-3)
Sporting celebrate one of the great European comebacks! Bodø/Glimt will always have San Siro.
GOAL! Sporting 5-0 Bodø/Glimt (Nel 120+1); agg: 5-3
Daniel Bragança steals the ball off a dozing/knackered Patrick Berg, 30 yards out. He feeds Rafael Nel down the right channel. Nel enters the box and absolutely roofs a shot into the top right, before disappearing under a pile of team-mates. Sporting have been magic tonight; poor Bodø/Glimt, whose romantic tale has ended in heartbreak.
Arsenal 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1). Leandro Trossard tries a curler towards the top right. He doesn’t quite catch it, and Janis Blaswich is able to claw it out and away. But that’s a first shot across the Bayer bow.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-2 PSG (Barcola 14); agg 2-7
Chelsea ship possession in the centre circle. PSG advance down the right, Warren Zaïre-Emery shuttling wide for Achraf Hakimi, who rolls infield for Bradley Barcola. One touch and a snapshot that rises towards the top-left corner and in. This could get ugly quickly. Chelsea already in damage limitation, reputation saving mode.
Arsenal 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1). A relatively quiet start at the Emirates, but Arsenal are beginning to get on top. Slowly but surely.
Sporting 4-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg 4-3). Sporting have something to lose now, and with time running out, are sitting back. Inviting pressure. A Bodø/Glimt corner comes in from the left. Andreas Helmersen loops a header towards the top right but there’s not enough pace on the effort to beat Rui Silva, who plucks from the air. Sporting are five minutes plus stoppages away from the quarters.
Chelsea 0-1 PSG (agg 2-6). Enzo Fernández advances down the left and wins a corner with a deflected shot. The set piece leads to some head tennis, and then Enzo Fernández nuts goalwards … only for the ball to clank off the back of keeper Matvei Safonov, who was all over the shop, facing the wrong way, spinning like a teenager on Special Brew. Then the whistle goes for a non-existent foul to release the pressure on the champions.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 PSG (Kvaratskhelia 6); agg 2-6
A speculative long pass down the PSG left. Mamadou Sarr misjudges the flight, letting the ball hit his heel. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia zips off with it, enters the box, and flashes a shot across Robert Sánchez and into the bottom right. A very difficult task has become almost impossible for Chelsea, and that didn’t take long.
Sporting 4-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 4-3). Nothing much happening in Lisbon.
Chelsea 0-0 PSG (agg 2-5). The visitors have settled quickly at Stamford Bridge, too.
