ARSENAL’S

brilliant, swaggering display in their win-or-bust Europa League tie with Slavia Prague begs only one question.

Where was this style, this conviction and this courage earlier in the season when the Gunners were dicing with the bottom three just before Christmas?

With a semi-final against his predecessor Unai Emery’s Villarreal to come, manager Mikel Arteta (left) must be starting to believe in his chances of landing a second major trophy in as many seasons.

And although Liverpool’s Champions League challenge ended in a spate of missed chances against Real Madrid, where was their tempo and intensity

when they lost six in a row at home to the likes of Burnley and Brighton?

If form remains one of the biggest mysteries in football, class is still the game’s most indelible hallmark.