Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on winger Gabriel Martinelli, after his influential cameo off-the-bench in Tuesday’s clash with Athletic Bilbao.
With the Gunners in search of a winner in their 2025/26 UCL opener against the Spanish side, Arteta threw on Martinelli, who delivered a masterclass performance to lead his side to victory.
The Brazilian winger, who had lost his spot to summer signing Eberechi Eze for the last two matches, scored one and set up another to seal a 2-0 win for the North London side.
Speaking after the match, Arteta highlighted the forward’s display and was impressed with the overall team’s performance.
“I know how much these players want to play this competition and what it means to them, and every time you name the line-up, you are disappointing a lot of players.
They know how I feel about them, so they know that when I have to leave a player on the bench or out of the squad, it hurts me”, Arteta said.
The first half ended goalless, with not much goal-mouth action until the arrival of Martinelli in the second half.
The winger netted the opener 36 seconds after coming on, latching on to a ball and beating the defenders with pace, before slotting in under Unai Simon.
He turned provider few minutes later when he assisted fellow substitute Leandro Trossard, for the Gunners’ second goal.
“But to have that experience, I looked on the bench, I looked at him [Martinelli], and in his eyes I could see that he was ready, Leo as well”, he continued.
“I was sure that he [Martinelli] was going to react like that. He has such a mentality. He’s a player that is constantly willing to learn and he proved himself. He is very demanding with himself.
And that’s the moment that hopefully is going to give him the confidence again to go, because he’s an outstanding player, and I am so happy he decided the game with his two actions”, Arteta concluded.
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