AND NOW YOU’RE GUNNER BELIEVE US?
While the match itself may not have been up to much, the spectacle and occasion of Arsenal’s win over Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night made it a unique and memorable evening in the club’s history. Pre-match smoke and pyro provided the soundtrack to the raucous welcome their players received as they arrived on the team coach. The rabble-rousing Over Land and Sea tifo couldn’t have looked less like its dismal, forlorn-cannon-on-a-bedsheet counterpart of yore. The unifying roar that greeted Arsenal’s gladiators as they strode out from the bowels of the colosseum they call home was off the scale. It was as if a sizeable proportion of match-going Arsenal fans had finally twigged there’s more to supporting your team than turning up five minutes before kick-off and sitting in nervous near-silence for 90 minutes. “We felt it,” cooed Bukayo Saka, in a post-match interview with the CBS Bigger Cup B@nter Show. “Since we were on the coach, I’ve never seen the Emirates like this in my whole career. It was so special. When the game started, they pushed us. It was just a beautiful moment.”
Atlético, meanwhile, reverted to their factory setting of five-at-the-back, belt-and-braces caution, hoping to catch their hosts on the break. As an attacking force they offered little or nothing. Not long after the hour mark, their four most potent threats had been withdrawn and replaced by – among others – a Norwegian targetman who could scarcely have received worse service if he’d been staying in a one-star hotel where all the staff were on strike. It made for an uncharacteristically comfortable final 25 minutes for Arsenal, whose post-match celebrations were so exuberant that chief superintendent Wayne Rooney felt compelled to make a statement on behalf of the Celebration Police. “I think the celebrations are a little bit too much,” he tut-tutted. “Celebrate when you win.”
In response, Ian Wright posted a video on social media disgraces urging fans to revel in the moment, albeit while taking the necessary steps to avoid having the collective collar felt. “Arsenal fans, let me tell you something: enjoy this,” he whooped. “The celebration police will be out in force, do not get nicked! Enjoy yourselves! Football is about moments and this is a big moment.” Wright’s was a view with which Declan Rice concurred: “I don’t think you can underestimate what we have done in this competition up to this point,” roared the midfielder of a team who are unbeaten in Bigger Cup after 14 games, have conceded only six goals and will still go into the final in Budapest as underdogs against PSG or Bayern.
“Come on man, you can’t ask me that,” laughed Saka, upon being asked which side he’d rather face by Micah “Big Meeks” Richards. “You know I’m going to have to give you a media-trained answer to that question. You know deep down who we wanna face, that’s all I’ll say.” While the general consensus appears to be that Saka and chums would rather face PSG in order to exact revenge for last season’s exit, Football Daily can’t help but feel they’d rather take on the Bayern side they’ve already comfortably beaten this season.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Rob Smyth from 8pm BST for sizzling-hot Bigger Cup semi-final second leg updates from Bayern Munich 5-4 PSG (agg: 9-9 aet, 10-9 pens).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates. In the [USA USA USA] it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price” – Fifa head-honcho Gianni Infantino, there, on how the market is responsible for eye-watering Geopolitics World Cup ticket prices. The market is suggesting a different story when it comes to US hotel reservations associated with the GWC, mind, which are falling short of expectations. “A range of factors have tempered early optimism … to fully realise that potential, the US and Fifa must ensure a welcoming and seamless experience for international travellers,” warned American Hotel and Lodging Association president Rosanna Maietta.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
When did the law change that required all BBC 5 Live presenters to start talking about ‘Atléti’ instead of using their full name? Even John Murray’s at it. You wouldn’t have caught Peter Jones and Bryon Butler lowering themselves like that” – Jon Foulkes.
The term ‘Firewall FC’ has been used for so long now by Football Daily that I no longer know who they are. Anyone else?” – Z Snook [clue: they finished fifth in the National League – Football Daily Ed].
I recently saw a club website (well, it was Bury FC) describe ‘the final passer before a goal’ as an ‘assistant’. Can we now, forthwith, henceforth and so on describe them as ‘assistants’ and have an ‘Assistant of the Year’ award?” – George Paterson.
‘A hefty and very audible sigh’ (yesterday’s last line, full email edition). Oh, that’s an easy one. What is my wife’s reaction when I proudly tell her that one of my letters has been published in the latest Football Daily?’ – Mike Wilner.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … George Paterson, who gets a copy of Classic Football Shirts. It’s out now and the Guardian Bookshop is offering discounted copies here if you’re not successful. The are loads of other top reads on their website, too. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly pod squad as they discuss Arsenal’s big night at the Emirates. And the latest episode of Women’s Football Weekly is hot off the podcast production line, too, with Birmingham head coach Amy Merricks on the panel.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
