Subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here. Nothing of much note had happened in the second half until Girona seemed to have equalised through Cristhian Stuani. A VAR review showed he was offside from a wide ball across the six-yard box, but that gave Arsenal a quick scare. Arteta is responding by readying Declan Rice to come on and see things out.
Arsenal remain in third place as it stands, whereas an equaliser would drop them down to fifth, theoretically leading to a slightly less favourable draw in the round of Brest were awarded a free kick thanks to a Jude Bellingham yellow card.
Brendan Chardonnet's delivery was sent into the box but couldn't find the back of the net. It remains a two-goal advantage for Real Madrid. And a lot of 'what could've been? Brest have done well since Real Madrid's second goal, steadying themselves and pushing forward purposefully.
Mama Balde and Kenny Lala have both had efforts well saved by Thibaut Courtois, who has been as impeccable as ever in the Madrid goal. With 15 minutes to go, the question is whether Brest's substitutes β Romain Del Castillo, Abdallah Sima, Romain Faivre and Pierre Lees-Melou are all on β can conjure something and set up a grandstand finish.
No momentous comeback appears in the cards for Stuttgart as PSG are minutes away from a record 14th consecutive qualification in the Champions League knockout stage. Stuttgart have had chances with nine shots and heavier possession in the second half. But PSG are still capitalising on counterattacks. Even if Gianluigi Donnarumma had not made two first-half saves, including a stellar one-handed swipe on a Chris Fuhrich shot 16 minutes in, a clean sheet would not have mattered much with the Parisian attack in the form it is.
