Isn’t it strange how a one off game has the power to define a whole season. During the 2018/19 campaign, Arsenal weren’t much worse than Tottenham Hotspur or Chelsea - who both finished a few points above them in the Premier League - however, it almost felt ominous that Arsenal would find a way on to Europe’s top table via an unpopular back door, in the back end of Baku, Azerbaijan.
Given the distance travelled, given the slightly eerie atmosphere in the stadium, given the amount of empty seats and the lack of fans that were in the stadium from both clubs, perhaps it was inevitable that the game wouldn’t start with fierce intensity.