Arsenal condemned to place all their eggs in Madrid-shaped basket - and it doesn't feel great
Champions League Last 16 2nd leg
Arsenal (2) 2 Zinchenko 6, Rice 37
PSV Eindhoven (1) 2 Perisic 18, Driouch 70
Agg: 9-3
If ever a football cliche felt redundant, the one about it being 'only half-time' after the first leg of a European tie was the one.
The fare on offer was reasonable given the total lack of jeopardy, but there was inevitably a sense of going through the motions.
Fans had little to do but spend 90 minutes admiring the defiant party atmosphere generated by the visiting fans - who were determined not to brood over the 7-1 scoreline in Holland last week - and daydream about the quarter-final to come.
As soon as the draw was made, it seemed certain that the Gunners would have to get past the repeat champions to progress to the semi-finals.
They have managed it before in that run to the final in 2006, but it is a hell of a tie on which to pin an entire season's hopes.
Make no mistake, the Real Madrid tie is now the only game in town for Mikel Arteta's side. The title is now surely too distant a prospect and the horror of that week where they were effectively knocked out of both domestic cups in the space of a few days has left them with only one trophy to tilt at. That wouldn't be so bad if wasn't Real.
There might have been brief hopes during the penalty shoot out in Madrid tonight that at least it would be Atletico rather than Real coming to the Emirates, but of course Diego Simeone's men never beat Real in the Champions League, whatever happens.
Elimination at the quarter-final stage for the Gunners would have a familiar ring to it. Bayern, Barcelona and Monaco have all laid waste to Arsenal ambitions in past editions. Last year was a continuation of that regular experience during the later Arsene Wenger years.
Maybe that is why Arteta cut such a tetchy, unhappy figure after the weekend draw at Manchester United. Deep down he knows that the season looks like it's about to slide towards the end game long before the real business-end of the season. No thrilling away win in Eindhoven can disguise that harsh fact.
The details of this match were only ever going to be a footnote, but it was a nice moment for Oleksandr Zinchenko, opening the scoring against a team he was briefly on loan to nine years ago. His bent shot from the edge of the area would have done Bukayo Saka proud.
The Ukrainian raised both hands up apologetically. It's doubtful PSV fans took any offence. They were too busy bouncing around and chanting and did not stop just because keeper Walter Benitez had only survived six minutes before conceding.
They were back at 1-1 on the night when ex-Spurs man Ivan Perisic turned home a pass from Guus Til with a fine shot into the roof of the net from just inside the area.
After that, Myles Lewis-Skelly hit a post before Declan Rice buried a header after being beautifully set up by Raheem Sterling's dash down the right and perfectly judged cross.
But Couhaib Driouech pegged Arsenal back again with a fine chip over David Raya after being set free through the centre, without too much by way of home resistance.
The line-up for the Gunners was predictably low-key with five of the first-leg scorers missing. You know there must be large degree of comfort for both Jakub Kiwior and Sterling to be in the starting XI. No such luxuries will be available in the next, season-defining - and quite possibly season-ending assignment.
Arsenal: (4-3-3) Raya - White (Timber 79), Kiwior, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly - Rice (Calafiori 64), Jorginho, Zinchenko (Odegaard 79) - Sterling, Merino (Trossard 64), Tierney (Martinelli 79)
PSV: (4-3-3) Benitez - Ledezma, Nagalo (Flamingo 77), Obispo (Boscagli 69), Malacia - Til, Schouten, Babadi - Bakayoko, Perisic (de Jong 68), Drouech (Bajraktarevic 80)
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