Mikel Arteta described Kai Havertz's return to the first team as unbelievable, as our German attacker had a hand in all three goals in our win over Kairat Almaty.
Kai set up Viktor Gyokeres for his 10th goal of the season inside two minutes, before netting himself with a curling effort to restore our lead at Emirates Stadium.
The German then played the ball across the box before Gabriel Martinelli found the net, and after the game, Mikel was full of praise for our returning attacker.
"Unbelievable," he said. "For a player that has been out for so long to perform with that clarity, with that energy, with that efficiency, very impressive. We know Kai, how much he can give us in different positions, different roles, different contexts. He's a player that makes us much, much better.
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Eight wins from eight means we become the first side to maintain a 100 per cent record in the league phase, which replaced the group stages in 2024/25.
The win was also Mikel's 200th as our manager, bringing a moment of pride to our boss.
"That's a big number," he said. "So very happy and especially to close the competition in the manner that we won it and now focus on the next one."
There was room for more good news as Mikel introduced Brando Bailey-Joseph and Ife Ibrahim for their debuts, with the pair having been in our academy for over a decade apiece.
Reflecting on their debuts, Mikel said: "Very good, very happy and I think it's a reward not only for them but everybody that works in the academy in that process to educate, to raise them and to get them to the point where we can use them in a Champions League match and I'm very happy.
"To win eight games in a row in this competition is something very, very difficult to achieve, so big credit to the players for doing that.
"We closed the first part of the Champions League in the manner that we wanted, being first and not having to play another two games and having the home advantage in the second leg and after that, after making 11 changes, I think the team's attitude was spot on from the beginning. We had some very good individual comebacks and performances.
"Disappointed with the two goals and the manner we concede them and the fact that obviously we scored three and we should have scored many, many, many more with the amount of situations and chances that we generated."
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