William Saliba believes we can go all the way in the UEFA Champions League this season, starting with Wednesday night’s round of 16 second leg at home to PSV Eindhoven.
Going into the game with a 7-1 lead on aggregate, winning the match is still as important as ever to Saliba and his teammates in order to keep confidence levels high.
“We all want to play tomorrow because it's a Champions League game,” he said in his pre-PSV press conference on Tuesday. “We play at home and we want to win. It can give us a lot of confidence and we can be qualified. Tomorrow is an important game for us.
“I think we don't have to think about the last game. Tomorrow is important as well and we have to win, even if we beat them 7-1 last week. The game is at home as well and if we win tomorrow, we will have good confidence for the next games.
“Of course, everyone wants to win the Champions League because it's a competition that you watch when you are young. You want to win and we know that the competition is really hard to win. We'll give everything and anything can happen.
“If we don't believe or if we don't dream to win the Champions League, there is no point to play. We are here.
“This season, with the new format, it was not easy to be qualified. Now we won the first game. Tomorrow we have the chance to win again and to be qualified.
“There will be four games before the final. We can do it. We all believe that we can do it.”
> "I always have this passion, especially because I'm a big fan of this club"
Asked about his passionate celebrations and how much he loves playing for Arsenal, Saliba explained how much the club means to him.
“I was a big fan when I was young,” he said. :When I celebrate a goal, it's because football games are so hard to win.
“When my teammates score a goal, I'm so happy. I always have this passion, especially because I'm a big fan of this club. Playing there and scoring there is like a dream for me. I enjoy everything, every day, every game.”
Saliba also touched on the topic of right back, where Jurrien Timber and Ben White have played next to him over the years.
“I think I'm lucky because even with the injury of Ben White, Timber came back from an ACL, a big injury,” he said. “He played like he never had an ACL before.
“He's so, so good. We are so lucky to have good defenders like this because they play so, so good. Ben and Timber are the same.
“We have to adapt. We are so happy to have good defenders like this.”
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