A funny thing happened this morning. As I got ready to go to work, I looked in my wardrobe. Sifting through the T-shirts I have worn many, many times, I came across something a bit special.

A red piece of fabric with the words 'Fly Emirates' across the front. Indeed, I had found my dusty Arsenal shirt, and I put it on for the first time in many a month.

I'm a slightly jaded football fan, a fact brought about due to the fact that I work in a sports news room and am thus surrounded by sport the entire day (no, I'm not complaining) and generally do not feel a connection to the people representing my club, Arsenal, on the pitch. This is not an article about the downfall of football in this country though, as I am entirely pragmatic about the 'money and sport' situation, but rather about the excitement that tonight's match against AC Milan has managed to ignite inside me.

'The knockout stage is what it's all about, though, and once again I feel the fire in my belly which is so often missing when I watch football matches'


I have always been a massive fan of the Champions League. Each and every year, I happily sit through the horrible long group stage draw, watching a bad looking version of Al Pacino take a disgracefully long time to take some balls out of a pot. I also thoroughly enjoy the much maligned group stage, which some people have suggested is a bit of a waste of time (understandable).

The knock-out stage is what it's all about though, and once again I feel the fire in my belly which is so often missing when I watch football matches. Arsenal are playing AC Milan, and only one club can emerge victorious. It's enough to make my stomach feel as though it is ready to unload at any minute.

Whilst being a very commercial tournament, the Champions League has managed to maintain a mystique, a holy grail type feeling. It is the ultimate Cup to win. The majority of football fans class a championship victory as more important than the European Cup, and I can see where they are coming from.

Consistency is tested over the course of nine months and ultimately the best team always comes out on top. This is not necessarily the case with the Champions League. The best team rarely wins the tournament, barring Barcelona in 2005 (it hurts me to write that), but I think that is what makes the competition so endearing. Thirty two teams start the competition - perhaps 16 of those can claim to be contenders to win the title.

Some Arsenal fans will look for a positive if we lose tonight, and suggest that we can focus all of our energies on the last 10 league games of the season. I will not be one of those people. To me, the Champions League is the competition which holds not only the most excitement but also the most prestige, and to see Arsenal lift the trophy in Moscow come May would be a dream come true.

Arsenal play AC Milan tonight in the San Siro in a knock-out match. I have to keep telling myself this fact to believe it. Well, it beats playing Wigan at the JJB Stadium any day.