Oleksandr Zinchenko capped a rare appearance in midfield with a lovely goal as he helped Arsenal ease past PSV Eindhoven to secure an exciting Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid.
The Ukraine international – tasked with playing Martin Odegaard’s number 10 position – took the game by the scruff of the neck on 6 minutes, cutting onto his left foot before whipping home a curling effort from the edge of the box.
Having played for PSV on loan in 2016/17, he made a point not to celebrate but clearly enjoyed a rare chance to shine on just his second start in this season’s competition.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Honestly, I’m so happy to be part of this amazing club and team, and it’s a really joy to be close to these guys, and like I said, whenever the team and the head coach needs me, I’m there.
“In any position they need me, I’m there to help, even if I will be on the stands, I will try to make an impact as much as I can to push the others, just to hug someone, whatever, so it’s a really joy to be here.”
Heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund in January, it seems quite likely that Zinchenko will leave Arsenal in the summer having been moved to the fringes of the squad by Arteta.
That shouldn’t detract from his impact on the club. The 28-year-old has played a fundamental role in restoring the Gunners to the Champions League and now hopes they can make their mark on the competition.
“We should be proud of this,” he told Arsenal.com. “Of course, we are looking for something bigger, but this is what we need to prove on the pitch, not by talking.
“I think we are in a very interesting stage of the season where obviously every game is like a final.
“Real Madrid are one of the biggest clubs in the world, they’ve won this competition 15 times, and they have a lot of world-class players and experience. But we just need to show our best performances, and we are all looking forward to these games.”
As for what Arsenal can learn from last year’s exit to Bayern Munich, he added: “In this competition, especially at this stage, you cannot be relaxed even for one second because honestly the level and the demands from all the teams is so high.
“If you will be relaxed for a bit, they can punish you straight away, so this is what we should learn, you know, from the past.”
It’s been confirmed that Arsenal will host Real Madrid on Tuesday 8 April before heading to the Bernabeu on Wednesday 16 April.
The Gunners will be hoping to have Bukayo Saka available by that point. The England international has been recovering from hamstring surgery since November but is thought to be close to a return.