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Arsenal took a big step towards booking its spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 7-1 win over PSV.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side has all but guaranteed its progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a 7-1 curb-stomping of PSV to take a mammoth lead back to the Emirates for the second leg.
With the Gunners reeling after back-to-back games of not scoring, there were some who feared for what PSV could do to Arteta's side considering the attacking threat has been absent for the past month, but those fears were quickly alleviated in the first half with three goals in the first 30 minutes sending the Gunners on their way.
Given that the Champions League is the only competition that the Gunners have a shot at winning with all other avenues exhausted (Premier League likely over), it was a big step for Arsenal, and it has all but guaranteed its spot in the quarter-finals.
Which for a club that felt like it was nearly on its knees a week ago, seems like a reasonably big development, and it appears that Arteta thinks so too.
"Well, it’s very significant but it’s just to put yourself in a really strong position to go through into the next round, and that’s it, that’s the reality," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "To have a landmark, you have to really take it to a different level but obviously, this team has done a lot that hasn’t been done in many years or in the history of the club, which means a lot."
It does feel like a big step for the Gunners, and now the hope is that this can be the springboard to the club finishing off the season in a positive fashion.
Yes, the league title is gone and while it isn't mathematically over, we can all agree that unless Liverpool suffer a ridiculous collapse, the title is going to Arne Slot's team, and that makes the final 11 games of the league season tough to navigate.
Well, they might be a little easier now with the confidence gained from the 7-1 win hoping to fuel a late-season charge so that Champions League football is again secured for next year.
It has been a trying past month for the Gunners, with the on-field performance leaving a lot to be desired, but maybe this result against PSV could be the catalyst for a form surge.