Back in January, Arsenal were trailing at home against Manchester United when the ball went out for a corner and Nicolas Jover did as he always does.
Mikel Arteta’s set-piece coach raced to the edge of the technical area and began to pull the strings. Soon, though, the Frenchman was wagging his finger: Arsenal had gone off-script and played it short.
His frustration didn’t last – a few passes later, Granit Xhaka clipped a cross on to the head of Eddie Nketiah and Jover joined in the wild celebrations.
In Lisbon last night, Arsenal abandoned best-laid plans once more.