Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Image source, PA Media

You know you have scored a special goal when you are being compared to Lionel Messi. Even more so if you are a centre-half.

With Tottenham leading 2-0 but down to 10 men and coming under pressure from opponents Copenhagen, Micky van de Ven could have been forgiven for launching the ball to safety when he got it on the edge of his own penalty area.

But the Netherlands defender had other ideas.

Off he went, sprinting past one, two, three players, squeezing past another two near the halfway line and outpacing a Copenhagen defender to get through on goal with the Spurs fans rising as one in anticipation.

And the finish did not disappoint, with Van de Ven slotting the ball past goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski, before being mobbed by jubilant team-mates having scored one of the great Champions League goals.

"It seems like Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven, running from his own goal down the other end to score," said Spurs boss Thomas Frank after his side thrashed Danish side Copenhagen 4-0 to maintain their unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign with two wins and two draws from their four games.

"I started dribbling and thought I would see if they would catch up and they didn't," Van de Ven told TNT Sports.

"I was feeling good, and I felt amazing in the sprint, I felt like I could keep going."

Really good goal, Phil, but I am with you. No doubt it was very impressive in a lot of ways but Puskas Award or goal of the season worthy? Not for me.

Give me an outrageous volley or flowing team move any day, or just a solo goal jinking past a few players...

Curtis Davies
Former Premier League defender on Football Daily

We saw a stark contrast to the Micky van de Ven that was walking off the pitch at the weekend [after the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea] all disappointed.

Initially I said it was like the George Weah run but I think I gave him too much credit there, so I'm going to say it was more like Son Heung-min's goal against Burnley.

He slotted it away like a proper centre-forward as well, what a finish it was. It was brilliant because he was at full tilt and full pace, and then he just slotted it into the bottom corner with his left foot.

Copenhagen capitulated after Tottenham's red card. Van de Ven's goal was just ridiculous, there were four players around him so you would have thought one of them could have put in a 'good foul' as us centre-backs call it, but nobody did.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank jokes that Micky van de Ven looked like Lionel Messi when he scored a stunning solo effort in a 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League.

Speaking to TNT Sport, he said: "That could be goal of the season. It was like [Lionel] Messi turned into a centre-back.

"It seems like [Cristian] Romero didn't want to stand down for his other centre mate too. That was also a great goal."

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

Right, it's Messi time - that's Micky van de Messi...

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal moved to 12 points with their win over Slavia Prague last night and are one of only two sides, along with Bayern Munich, to boast a 100% record after four games.

Inter Milan are the only other side that can join them on 12 points, if they win tonight.

Last season, 11 points was enough to earn a place in the top 24 and a route into the knockout play-off round, while 16 points ensured a top-eight finish and direct entry into the last 16.

The Gunners finished third in the Champions League table last season, with 19 points from their eight games.

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea winger on Football Daily

Image source, Getty Images

It was a run-of-the-mill win for all the Arsenal players so I knew everyone would go over to the 1,000 travelling fans and applaud them but the way Gabriel and William Saliba looked at each other and celebrated with each other showed that this is what they love to do and live for.

They live for defending and clean sheets and, oh boy, do they do it well.

I suspect they also turned around and celebrated with David Raya as well because he is a big part of these clean sheets.

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport

Arsenal equalled a 122-year-old club record last night by registering an eighth successive clean sheet in all competitions.

It’s a feat they only previously achieved between April to October 1903, when Woolwich Arsenal did not concede a goal in their final three league games of the 1902-03 season or their first five of 1903-04.

The Gunners have comfortably the best defensive record this season of any team in Europe’s top five leagues, with the most clean sheets and also ranking top for fewest goals conceded and fewest shots on target faced per game.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking after last night’s 3-0 win over Slavia Prague, said of his side’s defensive excellence: “The most pleasing thing, probably not the record, is the mindset of the players. They are talking about how we can still do better.

"There were one of two situations that we could have resolved better, so if we do that we can keep improving and that record will have a bigger meaning.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on his side's 3-0 win at Slavia Prague: "Emotionally I think we handled it very well. It shows the consistency we have, we dominated the defensive part of the game against a team that is very difficult to play against.

"Tonight we made four changes from the weekend and they all performed really well. Overall, a really productive evening."

Tom: Would love to know from Gianni how the keepers he listed are "miles" better than Courtois? Courtois has more clean sheets and fewer goals conceded per match than Casillas, and is only marginally behind Buffon and Neuer for save percentage. Hardly a boy amongst men.

Yavuz: Best goalkeeper ever: Yashin, the Russian. He didn’t just keep goal, he kept the 18 yard box.

Gary: Gotta add Banks and Yashin to the mix, surely! And, yes, that does rather age me!!

Image source, EPA

Arsenal teenager Max Dowman has become the youngest player to feature in a Champions League game after a substitute appearance in the 3-0 win at Slavia Prague.

Aged 15 years and 308 days, the forward broke the record set by Youssoufa Moukoko when the German featured for Borussia Dortmund against Zenit at 16 years and 18 days.

Dowman came off the bench to replace Leandro Trossard in the 72nd minute as Arsenal recorded a 10th successive win - and an eighth clean sheet in a row to match a club record set in 1903 - in Tuesday's league phase match.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was full of praise as he said: "It doesn't get any harder than this competition and Max, at 15, straight away looked to take people on and win free-kicks.

"The way he plays he attracts a lot of contact. He is so good at timing the right moment to move the ball. We have a massive player there."

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal have won 10 consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time under Mikel Arteta, last doing so between August and October 2018 under Unai Emery (a run of 11).

Alex Howell
BBC Sport football reporter at Fortuna Arena

Image source, Reuters

The sight of Mikel Merino wheeling away in celebration after scoring while playing as a striker is something Arsenal fans have got used to over the past nine months.

And the midfielder-turned-frontman was at it again on Tuesday, scoring twice in their 3-0 Champions League win at Slavia Prague.

The 29-year-old was filling in for Viktor Gyokeres, whose muscle injury is "concerning" manager Mikel Arteta as the Swede prepares for further tests.

Thankfully, he need not be concerned about Merino's ability to step up and deliver for the Gunners, whose fourth straight success in the league phase extended their winning run to 10 in all competitions.

"It's a joy to have him," admitted Arteta. "It's his mindset, it's his leadership, it's the way he is as a person.

"We are missing a lot of attacking players and we have to find different solutions. He comes in the Champions League and scores two goals."

Thanks, Callum, that allows me to segue seamlessly into a bit of Arsenal chat...

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There is a lot of work to do for Real Madrid if they want to challenge for the Champions League, according to Spanish journalist Guillem Balague.

Xabi Alonso took over the hotseat at Real Madrid in the summer and has taken them to the top of La Liga, where they have a five-point lead over rivals Barcelona.

The 15-time European champions went into last night's Champions League tie at Anfield having won 13 of their previous 14 matches in all competitions.

Their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool was the first match in that run they had failed to score, banging in 34 goals in the process, yet Balague believes their performance at Anfield was reflective of where they are in their development under Alonso.

"Not everyone thinks as one [at Real Madrid], which is absolutely crucial, and Liverpool did," Balague told 5 Live Breakfast.

"They [Real] lacked intensity, they arrived late to challenges, they struggled to cope with Liverpool's rhythm, especially in the second half, and if Vinicius and Mbappe stop defending the whole thing collapses.

"So, from the idea of what Xabi Alonso wants to do with the team and what is happening at the moment, there is still a big gap.

"There is a big gap between Real Madrid and the top teams in Europe. If they want to challenge for the Champions League there is a lot of work to do."