2 weeks Ago By Oliver Young-Myles
Gabriel Martinelli’s calmly taken goal in the dying embers of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid changed nothing and everything at the same time.Nothing because it was immaterial to the result. Arsenal were cruising through to the Champions League semi-finals anyway, leading 4-1 on aggregate with a couple of minutes left to play.
Everything because it sealed a famous win against the pre-eminent force of European football in their own stadium. Triumph against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu, and suddenly every other challenge seems less daunting.if(window.
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Here’s what the 23-year-old had to say about the goal, the win and Arsenal’s semi-final opponents PSG.A career highlightArsenal silenced the dominant force in European football (Photo: Getty)Martinelli has represented Brazil at a World Cup, won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and scored plenty of significant goals for Arsenal over the years. His strike in the Bernabeu trumped the lot.
“I’m really happy. I think it’s the biggest night of my career because scoring at the Bernabeu is amazing and I’m really happy with the performance of the team and the goal, as well.”Looking ahead to PSGThe Gunners face another stern test in the last four after PSG narrowly scraped past Aston Villa.
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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }Arsenal defeated Luis Enrique’s side 2-0 in the group stage, but the Ligue 1 champions have impressed since the turn of the year.“We won at the Emirates and to go to Madrid, play the way we did is not easy, but I think we did an amazing job and that will give us more confidence to go to the semi-finals.“Winning in Madrid is another point that shows what this team can do and we’re really happy.
We know that we’re going to have another tough game against PSG but we will go for it.“A club like Arsenal has to win the biggest titles and we’re going [to go] for it.”Ending a tough season on a highAfter scoring 15 goals and registering five assists in the 2022-23 Premier League season, Martinelli’s output has dipped over two subsequent campaigns.
He is hopeful that the goal in Madrid can be a springboard for him to end a challenging season in goalscoring form.“I can’t say it’s my best season here for Arsenal. I had to play some games on the right, which is not my favourite position, but I can play there to help the team and I tried my best for the team while Bukayo was out.
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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }Pushing Liverpool until the endArsenal’s hopes of winning a first Premier League title since 2004 are all but over with 13 points separating them from leaders Liverpool with only six games to play. #color-context-related-article-3631810 {--inews-color-primary: #8BC419;--inews-color-secondary: #F6FBED;--inews-color-tertiary: #8BC419;} Read Next square FOOTBALL .inews__post__label__sports-analysis{background-color: #8bc419;color: #ffffff;}Sport AnalysisWhich Rice free-kick was better? Arsenal fans and experts pick their favouriteRead MoreMartinelli is adamant, though, that Arsenal will not drop their standards despite the double-header with PSG taking centre stage.
“We’ve still got the league to play for, we will try to give our best to win the games and we’re not going to go to the games to draw or something like that.“We want to win every single game that we play and just try to build momentum.”Winning the Champions LeagueThe semi-finals are finely poised with Arsenal and PSG on one side of the draw and Barcelona and Inter Milan on the other.
With no overwhelming favourite among them, each team will have full belief that they can go all the way in Munich.“Of course. Since last year, when we qualified for the Champions League, we knew we could do it.
“We know our qualities and the strength of the team that we have and we have amazing players so we have to go for it. We want to win the title.”.
