Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal players after they outplayed Europe’s “best team” Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday to pull clear at the top of the Champions League table.
The Gunners dominated the second half against the six-time European champions to finish as worthy winners.
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Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl cancelled out Jurrien Timber’s opener late in the first half.
But Noni Madueke restored Arsenal’s lead with his first goal for the club and fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli took advantage of a huge blunder from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The Gunners now have five wins out of five in the Champions League and are well on course to qualify automatically for the last 16.
They are three points clear of a clutch of teams including Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who travelled to London with four wins out of four in the Champions League.
“I have to praise our players because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe,” said delighted Arsenal manager Arteta.
“Individually, we were immense to resolve all the challenges that this team brings to the table.”
The Spaniard added: “We know that the margins are super small. We started the week really well against Spurs, winning here at home (a 4-1 victory).
“Today is another massive victory, but that’s it. Now go home, have a nice dinner, and tomorrow morning we’ll start to prepare for Stamford Bridge (against Chelsea).”
Arteta said it would be useful to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League quickly but warned there were tough challenges ahead.
“The energy that we created in the stadium, what the team transmits, the energy that we bring, the quality that we play with, it’s incredible and we have to maintain that because it’s still very early,” he said.
There is a growing sense that Arsenal could be on the brink of something special after coming up short in the past few seasons, with three consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League.
But Arteta said it would be straight back to work on Thursday, with preparations for Sunday’s match against in-form Chelsea, who are second in the Premier League.
The strength of Arsenal’s squad is shown by the fact that two of the goals came from substitutes, Madueke and Martinelli.
The Gunners are also missing a host of senior players including Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.
“I look at the players and they are coming in and they can change the game so that’s what you’re required to do,” said Arteta.
“At this level, we certainly have improved that, not only with the quality but as well with the mindset of the players coming in and that’s something that is making a huge difference for us.”
AFP