When the Champions League anthem aired inside Arsenal’s home for the first time in six and a half years, its opening strains were drowned out by cheers. If that felt a touch saccharine, it summed up the crackling anticipation that had surrounded their return to the top table. Mikel Arteta’s side promptly pulled up a chair and, long before the end, could recline in comfort. They overwhelmed a PSV Eindhoven team that, laudably but naively, came to trade blows and the hosts set themselves fair for a swift qualification from Group B.
It ended up being the kind of cakewalk more familiar to those who had sat through five Europa League campaigns since Arsenal’s last appearance on this stage. They will certainly not always find things this easy but, in common with the rest of the resource-rich English representatives, should be expected to travel deep into the knockout stages. Any concerns that the occasion would overwhelm them were quickly dispelled by a characteristically sharp, insistent display that gave PSV little oxygen and ensured the manager could shuffle his pack long before the end.
