I have absolutely no idea how an Arsenal team with one change (minus Theo Walcott, plus Emmanuel Eboue) that played so poorly at home on Saturday can produce a performance like they did last night in Italy. But that they did up their game to such a degree might provide the springboard that gives them a chance of silverware this season. Something that looked a distant prospect after the home draw with Villa, regardless of the last seconds equaliser.

In 2004, successive exits in the FA Cup semi final and Champions League last eight looked to affect the team in the first half of the home game against Liverpool at the end of that week. With Wenger’s men going in at the interval 2-1 down, it took Thierry Henry’s greatest 45 minutes in an Arsenal shirt to turn the match around and put ‘The Invincibles’ back on course for the title.

Hopefully, after the recent dip that saw an FA Cup humiliation, and a five point lead in the league reduced to one, the win in Milan will get the team back on track this season. They’ve done marvellously to be in the position they are in, but on Saturday looked to have run out of steam in a big way. And hands up, I thought it was terminal. How pleased I am to be eating a decent slice of humble pie. But hey, I’m an emotional football fan, not some objective journalist, so spare me your slings and arrows, I was far from alone on Saturday at 5.15pm (although I did encounter some eternal optimists too!)

Still, I have a phrase which tends to ring true in my footballing experience. ‘The moment you start believing…’ And I have believed, a little prematurely, more than once. I was at the match in Japan when England were playing Brazil in the World Cup quarter final. 1-0 up thanks to Michael Owen, half-time nearing. I thought… Jesus, we could actually do it. Before you knew it, David Beckham ducked out of a challenge and England’s next touch of the ball was to kick off after the equaliser. And you know what. Paris 2006 was my fault. At 70 minutes, in a seat high up in the top tier, I allowed myself to think… if we actually do this, I am going to run down to the lower tier so I can get a better view of the players with the trophy after the match. When I headed down the stairs half an hour later it was to exit the stadium.

So be sure there will be no hint of the possibility that Arsenal can win anything here. I’d just scupper it. So have a go at me for my failure to believe, but I know damn well if I’d have been optimistic about the trip to Milan, we’d have no interest in Friday’s draw. Glad that’s sorted, now onto the game.

The second leg in Milan was part joy, part torture, at least until Cesc’s amazing goal. The joy was watching the team control large parts of the game against the holders of the competition, a side stuffed with experience and quality. The torture was the number of chances that weren’t taken, with the gnawing feeling that such profligacy would cost dear.

But the near misses can be forgotten now. Arsenal got the result their play deserved. Rather than play with European-style caution (a tactic that nearly cost so dear in Villarreal two seasons ago), they went for it. Arrigo Sacchi had his famous Milan team of the late 1980s develop a pressing game that did not allow the opposition to settle. And that is exactly what the Gunners did to Milan. They defended as a team, and worked hard all over the pitch to make life difficult for their hosts. Additionally, a re-laid pitch! Have they learned nothing from Alex Ferguson? Granted, it accounted for a few slips, but by and large allowed a football match to take place utilising the surface on which it was played. No danger of that at Old Trafford when Arsenal are due.

As long as it was 0-0, the danger of a Milan goal was a possibility, but their big names simply failed to win their duels with their less experienced opponents. Gattuso and Pirlo were anonymous, Kaka and Pato starved of the ball, Inzaghi constantly caught offside. The notorious defence had to kick lumps out of Hleb and could not contain Adebayor. Time has caught up with them, and the only question for Carlo Ancelotti is whether he is replaced before the season’s out or in the summer. Credit to Milan for the way they behaved at the end of the tie. The mark of a great team should be dignity rather than petulance, and they took the exit on their shoulders, knowing full well they had been beaten by a better team on the night.

With the rest of the season in mind, it was good that the players did not need extra time to get the job done. And looking ahead, there is every chance another big name awaits in the last eight. Ironically, Arsenal are more likely to get through if they face a difficult opponent. Fenerbache and the winners of Porto/Schalke look the teams that everyone is hoping to draw, but the Gunners would probably make hard work of such opposition. And there is a good chance of meeting another Premier League team. At least if it’s United, a European ref will not allow them to kick us off the park at Old Trafford. But the bottom line is this. If Arsenal can beat Milan in their own stadium, they need fear nobody. If I was a betting man though, I’d say the goldfish bowls will give us a trip to Barcelona in a month’s time.

Still, let’s get the season fully back on track by getting a result on the vegetable patch that is the JJB on Sunday. Momentum is everything, so let’s hope the marvellous night in Milan will give the team the much needed boost they have been looking for since that terrible Saturday at Old Trafford.