In reality, it turned into absolute chaos at the Emirates. Pity the poor administrative staff at UEFA tomorrow – they won’t know where to start.
Make no mistake, the Bundesliga side will have the book thrown at them following an evening of unrest and anti-social behaviour.
The warning signs for the authorities were already there early in the week.
Reports suggested around 20,000 Cologne fans were making the journey to London.
Problems began to arise in the afternoon around Oxford Circus and Soho as supporters went on the rampage. The police issued a reassuring statement explaining everything was under control.
By early evening it became clear that that certainly wasn’t the case.
As Cologne fans made their way to north London, brawls broke out around Drayton Park.
Once closer to the Emirates, they then tried to force entry into the stadium as a helicopter hovered ominously overhead.
In the interest of safety, Arsenal opted to put the game back by an hour while they got the situation back under control.
But once Cologne fans were let in, even that started to spiral out of control.
Fights broke out as supporters immediately tried to clamber in the home end.
There were murmurings that the game would be postponed.
However, Arsenal announced it would go ahead as that appeared to be the safest option given the huge volume of unsegregated supporters.
After the game kicked off, a large assortment of Cologne supporters remained outside causing a racket.
The disorder seemed to affect the Gunners who started sluggishly.
A poor David Ospina kick gifted Cologne the opener.
The Colombian sliced a clearance which found its way to Jhon Cordoba.
The 30-year-old forward still had a fair bit of work to do, but expertly lobbed the Gunners goalkeeper from around 30 yards.
Arsenal got their mojo back in the second-half and substitute Sead Kolasinac was the game changer.
He got the Gunners back on level terms just minutes after the break and was a thorn in Cologne’s side.
A wonder goal from Alexis Sanchez and a tap in from Hector Bellerin put Arsenal out of sight.
The final whistle wasn’t the end of the crowd issues, though.
Cologne fans gravitated into one group and simply would not leave. There looked to be in excess of 10,000 German fans in the ground.
Arsenal take the points, but the repercussions of this fixture will undoubtedly be felt well into the next round of matches.
