At Arsenal, they are calling this their biggest game for 20 years. That says much about the work Mikel Arteta has done to drag Arsenal back to this level but also something about the lows they experienced towards the end of the Arsene Wenger years and beyond.
Now that they are here, what happens against Real Madrid over the next nine days feels important. Not just in terms of Arsenal’s progress in the Champions League but in terms of where they really are at this stage of Arteta’s evolution.