Martin Odegaard has promised that Arsenal are in the UEFA Champions League “to compete, to fight, to go all the way” after winning their opening match against PSV.
It took less than 10 minutes for Bukayo Saka to open the scoring with a close-range effort, on what was his and many of his teammates’ Champions League debuts.
Leandro Trossard doubled Arsenal’s advantage just over 10 minutes later when he curled a sumptuous effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area, finishing off a superb team move.
Before half-time Gabriel Jesus put the result beyond doubt when he lashed Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross into the top corner, and in the second half, Gunners captain Odegaard drilled a long-range effort into the bottom corner of the goal to complete the scoring.
Arsenal might have become accustomed to the Europa League in recent seasons, and they have only won one game, but after the match, Odegaard sent a message of intent.
“We’re in this competition to compete, to fight, to go all the way,” the Norwegian told TNT Sports.
“So it’s a great start, we have to keep working hard, then we’ll see.”
When asked what pleased him most about Arsenal’s performance, the skipper identified how his side applied themselves.
“I think you saw the motivation, the energy straight from the start. To be back in this competition is huge for us as a club and I think you saw that on the pitch today.
“We enjoyed it, we played a good game, some things we can still improve but it was a solid performance and a great start to the competition.”
With Arsenal making a strong start to the season and playing well, manager Arteta admitted that his players are giving him “good headaches” when he comes to select a starting XI before each match.
“It’s probably the hardest thing in the job [picking a side] because you get emotional and it’s been a beautiful journey with them and when you don’t play a player you know how that player feels and you can’t do anything about that, you have to play them,” the Arsenal boss told TNT Sports. “For Emile [Smith-Rowe] I was pretty happy there too.”
Highlights: Arsenal hammer PSV on long-awaited Champions League return
Arsenal will look to make it two wins from two in the Champions League when they travel to France to face RC Lens on Tuesday, October 3.
Before that though is the small matter of a North London derby against an in-form Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
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