Arsenal take another step on their journey to the top

Mikel Arteta tried to put on a managerial demeanour as he congratulated his players on going the distance and beating Porto, but ultimately, he couldn't keep the joyous smile off his face. It was all too visible as he came out of the dressing room and then sat down in front of the media.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Arteta was thrilled.

Those who speak of the exacting standards of winners might say that’s a bit much for a mere Champions League last-16 penalty shootout victory over a side Arsenal should be beating fairly easily, in the way this side have generally had their celebrations policed.

There was obviously much more to it than that. It wasn’t even that the club had reached the quarter-finals, either. It was that the team had made another crucial step, with this one admittedly a giant leap. This is the gleefully intoxicating thing about a team that is on top. Liverpool will know it well from Jurgen Klopp’s first years. Even Arsenal’s great rivals at Tottenham Hotspur will be familiar with it from the Mauricio Pochettino era.

It is the excitement and sense of possibility that comes from seeing another landmark left behind. The team feels like it can just keep going. There’s almost nothing like it in football. It’s certainly when a club is at its happiest that the imagination is sparked. That was very much the atmosphere at the Emirates stadium last night. You could feel it in the crowd.