Arsenal’s route to the Champions League final has become much clearer

In the last seven months, Mikel Arteta’s team has frequently had to sit tight in defence of narrow leads, overwhelm opponents at corners, or grind to victory, but not this time.

The Champions League, the largest continental club competition in the game, offers a number of methods to advance to the last eight, but if you had to choose just one, there’s no better way than to do it with a swagger. And Arsenal did, with two goals of such calibre from Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze that the Bayer Leverkusen players were devastated.

They were defeated in every aspect of the match, but it was never felt more acutely than after those two goals were scored. This is a respectable Bundesliga club that has been cleverly assembled, snatched away by more affluent competitors, and then rebuilt, all while being made to appear unremarkable. Bayern Munich, who have lost 11 points in the Bundesliga this season, drew with Leverkusen at home three days prior. The guests were never present at the Emirates.

Arsenal swagger into Champions League quarter-finals

“It’s amazing how the team feels, how they go for every ball, and how passionate they are in every action,” Arteta remarked. “It’s amazing to do it every three days.”

While others, most notably City, a title contender and Sunday’s opponents in the Carabao Cup final, depart Europe, Arsenal will still have to deal with all of these games. However, Arteta’s players didn’t appear to be tired on this particular night. They got off to such a great start that Janis Blaswich, the custodian for Leverkusen, was his team’s most important player in the first half, and Arsenal should have scored more than Eze’s stunning strike in the 36th minute.

Arsenal should have scored more goals in this match, but they weren’t required to play at their best after the second. Despite a few conspicuous failures to startle a falling ball played up to him, Gyokeres, who had been bustling and frantic all evening, stepped off to thunderous ovation.

Just before the Rice goal, a Gyokeres cross had reached Piero Hincapié, but only a deft clearing by the young Englishman Jarell Quansah had stopped it. Long before the finish, Leverkusen had surrendered.