Great Start [GT Chapter]

The roar from the Emirates reached a rolling crescendo as the players emerged from the tunnel, led out by the referee's team under a flurry of blue and red strobe lights.

Arsenal in their traditional red-and-white and PSG in sleek midnight blue, the red trim gleaming under the floodlights.

A thousand camera lenses focused, flashes stuttering like thunder.

The Champions League anthem thundered into life, echoing off the metal bones of the North London Coliseum.

Up in the gantry, the commentators leaned into their microphones as the drama unfolded below.

"Well, good evening everyone, and welcome to what promises to be a night of headlines — on and off the pitch," began Clive Tyldesley, his voice laced with both excitement and a pinch of journalistic wariness.