It was always likely to stand as a barometer for Arsenal as much as anything else. How would they measure up to Paris Saint-Germain, one of the powerhouses of the Champions League? Extremely well, was the answer. On a night to bolster the collective belief for the bigger challenges ahead, especially those that will surely come after the group phase of this competition finally reaches it climax, Arsenal showed their mettle in the duels and a cut and thrust to delight the home crowd.
Kai Havertz scored with a towering header and when Bukayo Saka snaked a 35th-minute free-kick through a mass of bodies inside the PSG area and in, past the partially sighted Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arsenal knew it was theirs to lose. They would survive a few scares towards the end; a PSG goal could have made it interesting. But Arsenal never really looked like losing their control.
There was the sense of too many pretty touches from PSG and not enough bite in the areas that mattered. But the biggest takeaway concerned Arsenal's strength. It was there on a mental level, Mikel Arteta happy with the maturity of his team, how they remained clear-headed throughout.
And particularly in physical terms. These Arsenal players are imposing, the majority of them standing at six foot or over, and their basic hardness was frequently too much for PSG. Arsenal missed a number of clear chances but it did not matter.
It added up to a statement made by them, even if it was difficult to quantify the importance of the r.
