Ed Aarons was at the Emirates, while Nick Ames went to the Bridge. Their reports are in. Thanks for reading this Clockwatch.
Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT. “The team was immense … domination … big chances … we had a big performance as a team … individuals too elevated the level … [playing Sporting in the quarters] is a completely different game [to last season’s 5-1 away win in the league phase] … they are a top side … it is going to be very difficult … so enjoy tonight, then prepare, because we have a beautiful final to play on Sunday … now we can focus on the final.”
Declan Rice, player of the match, has a chat with TNT. “Third year in a row in the quarter-finals … really tough game … we deserved the win … we could have scored three or four … I’m shattered! … it’s non-stop … in all the competitions still … it is really tiring … but you find energy, find ways to win … I was happy with [the goal] today … it’s not quite Real Madrid but I’m happy with it! … we’ve lost three in all competitions … it’s an unbelievable season we’re having … we need to keep going, keep raising the level, and see what happens.”
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Liam Rosenior speaks to TNT. “It was a really tough night … we knew it was a tough ask … to start the game in the manner we did … actually in the first six minutes we had the ball in their final third … we made a mistake … at this level you can’t make them … they punished you … we had set plays … then Barcola hits one from 25 yards into the top corner … then it becomes a really difficult night … the difference, if you watched the games, is they were clinical … we had a lot of shots … they didn’t make mistakes and we did … this is a really tough one to take … I want to thank the fans … they saw how hard the lads were working in a difficult moment … we really want to make sure we don’t go through many more nights like this … we still have a lot to play for.”
He also reports that Trevoh Chalobah has a “high ankle sprain … I am praying it is not too serious.”
Eberechi Eze scored a belter tonight, and here he is talking to TNT Sports. “I don’t think I could dream of scoring a goal like that … thankful to God that’s worked today … it’s a special goal … for sure I will remember it a long time … hopefully the first of many in the Champions League … we’re in the final stage of all these competitions so we’ll keep pushing, keep working … God willing, it comes through!”
He also confirms that, despite going down just before coming off, he’s got no injury issue. Pretty much a perfect night for Arsenal all round.
Tonight’s Champions League round-of-16 results. Two Premier League clubs are cashiered from the competition, but England’s league leaders ease through.
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1)
Chelsea 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain (agg 2-8)
Manchester City 1-2 Real Madrid (agg 1-5)
Sporting 5-0 Bodø/Glimt (aet, 3-0 after 90 mins, agg 5-3)
FULL TIME: Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1)
It was never in doubt. Two absolute crackers, and Arsenal will play Sporting Clube de Portugal in the quarter-finals. All eyes on Viktor Gyökeres!
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FULL TIME: Chelsea 0-3 PSG (agg 2-8)
The referee doesn’t bother adding on any additional time, and the whistle goes to end Chelsea’s misery. PSG celebrate while a few Chelsea fans boo. But most of them are already on the way to the tube. PSG will play either Liverpool or Galatasaray in the quarters.
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 3-1). A ball cut back from the right byline by Aleix García. Christian Kofane steers a first-time effort towards the top left. It looks like it’s in, all the way, but David Raya somehow extends an arm and all of his finger to tip away. That’s a save as good as the goals Arsenal have scored.
Chelsea 0-3 PSG (agg 2-8). Trevoh Chalobah is down and in some pain. Not sure what’s happened, the TV cameras aren’t being intrusive. On comes the stretcher. Chelsea will be down to ten for the rest of the game, having used all of their subs, but that’s the least of their worries with Chalobah injured. God speed young man.
Chelsea 0-3 PSG (agg 2-8). PSG stroke it around while watching the clock. If everyone could disappear down the tunnel now, they would. “PSG haven’t been anywhere near the heights they hit last season,” suggests Kári Tulinius. “They lost to Monaco in the league recently, and were dismal. However, against Chelsea they’ve looked formidable again, but with the caveat that Chelsea have seemed terrible. I honestly can’t tell if PSG make them look bad or they’ve gone to pot.”
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.
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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!
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GOAL! Chelsea 0-3 PSG (Mayulu 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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Arsenal 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1). The visitors start confidently. Exequiel Palacios crosses from the right, forcing William Saliba into the concession of the night’s first, but not, I’ll be bound, the last corner. The hosts clear without fuss, but the Germans seem to have settled quickly.
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EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Sporting 4-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 4-3)
One step closer to knowing who Arsenal or Bayer Leverkusen will face in the quarters.
Chelsea v PSG. The Slovene referee Slavko Vinčić has not got himself trapped in the middle of the Chelsea huddle. So that’s a good start at the Bridge.
The teams are out at both the Emirates and Stamford Bridge. Arsenal in red, Bayer in blue, Chelsea in blue, PSG in red. That won’t be at all confusing as I attempt to follow both matches at once. Anyway, Zadok the Priest does his thing, and we’ll be off any moment now.
Sporting 4-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 4-3). Bodø/Glimt are unsurprisingly down on themselves right now. On the one hand, Sporting thoroughly deserve their reward tonight: they’ve been magnificent, piling on the pressure until the visitors capitulated. But on the other, the penalty decision that led to the equaliser was a generous one: Fredrik André Bjørkan was standing very close to Iván Fresneda as he crossed, and the ball brushed his stomach nanoseconds beforehand as well. “When was that ever a penalty, even during these new, ridiculous handball rules?” sighs Øivind Idsø, before signing off with an unambiguous emoticon.
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GOAL! Sporting 4-0 Bodø/Glimt (Araújo 92); agg: 4-3
It doesn’t look like it. Geny Catamo rolls a pass down the left for Daniel Bragança, who pulls back to Francisco Trincão. The ball’s laid off to Maximiliano Araújo, who flippers a first-time shot into the bottom left from 12 yards. Lovely move, crisp finish, comeback complete, a sickener for the Norwegians.
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Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). The game restarts at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Will Sporting complete their comeback, or can the minnows turn the momentum back in their favour, just as Galatasaray did against Juventus last month?
A reminder of how the first legs panned out.
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta has a chat with TNT Sports. “We pick the team which we think is right to start … it is a long game … you have to put everything into every action from the first moment … make something special out of it … individual performances.”
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior talks to TNT Sports. “It needs to be near-perfect, but we are capable … I have seen the lads do it in the summer … score three goals against this team … we don’t want to make the mistakes that we made in the first leg.”
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FULL TIME: Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3)
Extra time it is!
Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). A rare chance for Bodø/Glimt to cause some bother, as a free kick’s won out on the left. But Patrick Berg’s delivery isn’t all that, a floater that’s easy for Rui Silva to claim. Sporting go up the other end, Nuno Santos crossing from the left. Another easy one for the keeper, and upon catching the ball, Nikita Haikin takes the opportunity to roll about a bit, eating up some of that clock. They might just make it to extra time after all.
Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). The clock moves into additional time. There will be five extra minutes. Anyone for a winner, and with it the right to face either Arsenal or Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals?
Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). Another Sporting corner is only half cleared. It drops to Nuno Santos again, but there’s no chance of a shot this time. Instead he drifts wide left and crosses, finding the head of Morten Hjulmand, who flaps a weak header straight at the keeper. Three minutes plus stoppages before extra time and maybe penalties.
Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). This match has been played in Bodø/Glimt’s final third for the majority of this half. And the pressure is being turned up even further. A corner’s half-cleared. Nuno Santos meets it by the left-hand side of the D, and pings a peach of a daisycutter off the base of the right-hand post! Nikita Haikin beaten all ends up. Then the rebound falls to Geny Catamo, who hoicks over from 12 yards. This is intense!
Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3-3). Sporting’s tails are up all right. Luis Suárez threads a shot towards the bottom left from a tight angle. Then Francisco Trincão pearls a rising drive goalwards from 25 yards. He’s really caught it. Nikita Haikin tips over acrobatically. Nine minutes to go, and the Norwegian minnows, the choice of every romantic, are desperate to hear the final whistle, so they can regroup before extra time. But will they get the chance?
GOAL! Sporting 3-0 Bodø/Glimt (Suarez 78); agg: 3-3
Luis Suárez thrashes the penalty low and left, having sent Nikita Haikin the wrong way! Sporting are level, Bodø/Glimt are livid. They’ll have to clear their heads and quick, because they’ve been on the ropes, and Sporting’s tails are up!
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Sporting 2-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 2-3). VAR calls the ref over to the screen. He decides Fredrik André Bjørkan’s arm was in an unnatural position, away from the body, so draws the TV screen and points to the spot!
Sporting 2-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 2-3). A big penalty shout as Iván Fresneda wedges a cross in from the right. The ball hits Fredrik André Bjørkan’s hand. VAR is going to take a look. Bjørkan’s arm was sticking out, so that’s not good for the Norwegians … but proximity might save them.
Sporting 2-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 2-3). The rain is pelting down in Lisbon. That’s making for some fast play, and the direction of travel is all towards the Bodø/Glimt goal. Sporting have been hogging the ball: 75 percent possession in the last five minutes. The Norwegians are hanging on a bit here.
Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen. Arsenal make two changes to their starting line-up in Leverkusen. Ben White comes in at right-back for the injured Jurriën Timber, while Leandro Trossard replaces the benched Gabriel Martinelli. Kasper Hjulmand names the same starting XI.
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GOAL! Sporting 2-0 Bodø/Glimt (Gonçalves 61); agg: 2-3
The comeback’s definitely on now! Geny Catamo sprays a lovely ball down the right wing for Luis Suárez, who delivers an inch-perfect low cross into the middle. Pedro Gonçalves, steaming down the inside-left channel, doesn’t need to break stride before blasting home from 12 yards. Lovely sweeping move!
Chelsea v Paris-Saint Germain. Chelsea make three changes following the 5-2 loss in Paris last week. Andrey Santos, Mamadou Sarr and Jorrel Hato are in; Wesley Fofana drops to the bench, Malo Gusto is ill and Reece James is hamstrung. PSG make just one change from last week. Kvicha Kvaratskhelia replaces Desire Doue, who drops to the bench.
Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen teams
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Eze, Trossard, Gyokeres.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Ranson, Mosquera, Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Havertz, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman.
Bayer Leverkusen: Blaswich, Quansah, Andrich, Tapsoba, Terrier, Palacios, Garcia, Grimaldo, Maza, Poku, Kofane.
Subs: Omlin, Lomb, Fernandez, Hofmann, Tillman, Schick, Oermann, Tape, Culbreath.
Sporting 1-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 1-3). The Norwegian underdogs look a bit sharper in this second half. They’re enjoying more possession – they only had 37 percent of it in the first period – and throwing more men forward. A goal would send Sporting back to square one and surely knock out their stuffing. Sondre Brunstad Fet tries to thread a shot into the bottom left, but Rui Silva is behind it all the way.
Chelsea v Paris Saint-Germain teams
Chelsea: Sanchez, Hato, Sarr, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Santos, Palmer, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Merrick, Adarabioyo, Delap, Fofana, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao, Lavia, Garnacho, Mheuka, Kavuma-McQueen.
Paris Saint-Germain: Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Neves, Dembele, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia.
Subs: Chevalier, Marin, Lucas Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Goncalo Ramos, Doue, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Fernandez, Mbaye.
Sporting 1-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 1-3). An early blow in the second half for Sporting. Morten Hjulmand cynically drags back Ole Didrik Blomberg, and goes into the book. That means the Sporting captain would miss the first leg of the quarter final if he and his side complete the comeback.
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HALF TIME: Sporting 1-0 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 1-3)
This edition of Clocko begins as the first half in Lisbon finishes … and the comeback is on! Sporting Clube de Portugal have made it a third of the way back towards equality, Gonçalo Inácio flashing in a header from a right-wing corner on 34 minutes. The home side should have already been leading, truth be told, but Francisco Trincão had earlier sent a header over the bar from point-blank range and missed a one-on-one with Bodø/Glimt keeper Nikita Haikin. The Norwegians have come close to scoring on two occasions themselves: Patrick Berg dragged wide, a miserable end to a swashbuckling counter attack, then Odin Bjørtuft saw a header ping off the crossbar, up and down and onto the crossbar again, then away. It’s been open and fun, and the second half should see some nerves jangle, one way or another.
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Sporting v Bodø/Glimt teams
Sporting: Rui Silva, Fresneda, Quaresma, Inacio, Araujo, Hjulmand, Morita, Catamo, Trincao, Pedro Goncalves, Suarez.
Subs: Virginia, Callai, Debast, Nuno Santos, Vagiannidis, Faye, Braganca, Simoes, Couto, Nel, Diomande, Flavio Goncalves.
Bodø/Glimt: Haikin, Sjovold, Bjortuft, Gundersen, Bjorkan, Evjen, Berg, Fet, Blomberg, Hogh, Hauge.
Subs: Lund, Nielsen, Aleesami, Auklend, Saltnes, Helmersen, Klynge, Riisnaes, Bassi, Maatta, Mikkelsen, Sjong.
Preamble
Arsenal and Chelsea both go into Champions League battle at 8pm GMT this evening. It’s fair to say the former has more chance of making the quarter-finals than the latter, but teams have come back from three goals down in the past – Deportivo La Coruña v Milan in 2004, Roma v Barcelona in 2018, Andy Robertson clipping Lionel Messi around the lug in 2019 – so let’s rule nothing out.
Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen (agg 1-1)
Chelsea v Paris Saint-Germain (agg 2-5)
There’s also an early kick-off in the shape of …
Sporting v Bodø/Glimt (agg 0-3)
… to which the aforementioned three-goal-comeback observation also applies. We’ll get up to speed with that immediately, so let’s not hang about.
