Arsenal’s place in the top eight of Champions League was all but guaranteed before they travelled to Spain for their European closer, but victory over Girona on Wednesday night could prove to be decisive in the weeks to come.
Had a rotated Gunners team not secured a 2-1 win in Catalonia, Mikel Arteta’s side could feasibly have slipped all the way down to eighth place – rather than the lofty third which they actually recorded.