Arteta delighted with impact of his “finishers” | Interview | News

After seeing his substitutions pay off massively, Mikel Arteta paid tribute to Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard whose goals beat Athletic Club.

The game was goalless before Mikel rolled the dice, firstly putting on Leo before adding Gabi six minutes later. 36 seconds later, the two combined to score a fine opening goal, before roles were reversed in the latter stages to wrap up the points.

And despite opting to name them on the bench for the past couple of matches, Mikel was delighted they were ready, willing and able to make an impact when called upon to hand us a big three points to kick off the Champions League league phase.

“Something that we always discuss is that the finishers have to impact the game, and Gabi and Leo came on to make the difference for the team,” said Mikel post-match. “They was outstanding and the rest of the team as well. In many moments, they were at a very good level.

“When someone is able to win the game in those actions and be so clinical, it’s exactly what we need because the threat can come from different ways and different players. I’m very pleased with that.

“It means that [Gabi and Leo] are connected and they feel that they are really, really important. We have discussed that a lot. We’re going to need that. Piero [Hincapie] comes in and plays five minutes and so does Christian [Norgaard] and it’s the best five minutes of their lives. That’s the spirit that we need amongst the squad. If we have everybody at that level, we’ll win a lot of games.”

For the fourth trip to Spain in a row, we board the flight home with a victory, following on from wins in Sevilla, Girona and Madrid as we continue to get the better of La Liga’s best.

It means it was another happy homecoming for Mikel, especially so given this game took place back in his antive Basque Country, and he was thrilled that a successful trip for both our travelling supporters and himself ended on a high note with a victory, as well as the chance for him catch up with some relatives too.

“I’m very happy. It’s an incredible place to come and play football, and the atmosphere is one of the best I’ve seen,” he smiled. “We knew it was going to be very difficult, so we had to earn the right to win the game. I think throughout the game we became more and more dominant and much more of a threat.

“So overall, very good. I’m going to see some family now, I’m looking forward to it. I hope the fans travelled well, they were amazing again.”

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