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Whether you call them “Athletic Club” or “Athletic Bilbao” , has no bearing on the tough test Arsenal will face, away from home, in our Champions League opener.

Athletic Bilbao come into this match on the back of a 1-0 home defeat, by Alaves, but Bilbao had twelve shots during the game, so definitely don’t lack creativity.

In contrast, Arsenal come into this match on the back of an impressive 3-0 win, at home to Nottingham Forest.

The Champions League is a different competition though, and always throws up a plethora of new challenges. We can take nothing for granted. It’s imperative that Arsenal get the small margins right defensively, and ensure we’re ruthless offensively.

That defeat we suffered at the hands of PSG, not only still hurts, but still feels like a missed opportunity.

Could THIS be the year that we FINALLY win the Champions League?

Will this be the year that we silence rival fans, and make them choke on their backward, banal, banter?

Can Mikel Arteta “Get this team over the line” and win the big honours?

It’s time for us to win the big fight! The 80’s inspirational music has finished playing, the elaborate, Rocky training montage has faded to black, and the bell has rung!

All that’s left is to hold our hands aloft, and emotionally shout…”ADRIAAAAAN!”

Until then..  First thing’s first..  Just the small matter of winning our first game.

The team unfortunately lined up without Martin Odegaard, after he injured his shoulder AGAIN, against Nottingham Forest. I expected Ethan Nwaneri to once again come in for him. (Hopefully)

William Saliba is now fit again, which is excellent news, but also gives Mikel Arteta a selection headache, as Cristhian Mosquera has been in superb form, in Saliba’s absence.

I wanted to see the same front three, that started the game against Forest. Eze, Gyokeres, and Madueke, all looked dangerous individually, but more importantly, when they linked up play.

They created space for each other, and were unpredictable in their approach play, and I’m convinced they can riddle every defence they face, with befuddlement… Throughout the season.

The 15-year-old wonderkid Max Dowman travelled with the squad, and although I know he won’t start the match, I’m hoping he at least makes a cameo appearance. If he does, it would make him the youngest player ever, in Champions League history.

That would be amazing for Max, his family, and Arsenal football club.

Okaaaaay, so ….I got the lineup wrong, regarding Ethan Nwaneri, coming in for Martin Odegaard. Arteta instead, decided to go with the midfield trio of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Mikel Merino.

I stared at the team-sheet for a while, a little disappointed for Ethan Nwaneri, but also because I felt a little glad. I felt glad because it’s now almost impossible to predict Arsenal’s starting eleven. That didn’t used to be the case, and it feels like a gargantuan step closer, in the pursuit of our silverware goals.

Not only is Arteta keeping opposing manager’s guessing, in terms of the tactics he may employ, and the quality personnel at his disposal, but he’s also got us fans guessing too…and I cannot help, but LOVE that! Flex those squad depth muscles!

The match started rather evenly, with Arsenal having a lot of the possession, but just passing side-to-side, and not really able to get in behind Athletic Bilbao.

Noni Madueke tried his best to be that creative spark, but the space was closed down quickly, and he was being doubled up on. Eze on the left side, was just as ineffective, but that was down to how well Bilbao were defending.

It was a very physical first half, with some gladiatorial battles all over the pitch. It was stop, start, stop, start… and as a result of that, like an inebriated drummer, Arsenal couldn’t find their rhythm.

Apart from an attempted diving header by Viktor Gyokeres, from an excellent Jurrien Timber cross, there wasn’t any clear cut chances of note.

A clash of heads between Gabriel Magalhaes, and Viktor Gyokeres, stopped play for a while, as both players went up for a header. Gabriel was ok, but Gyokeres required treatment on a head wound, but was thankfully able to continue. He quite literally, bled for the cause! Nobody can question his commitment.

The second half continued in the same pattern as the first, with Athletic Bilbao defending deep, closing down the spaces quickly, and fully committed to their niggling fouls, to break up Arsenal’s play. The physicality theme also continued, which Arsenal stood up to, with no problems whatsoever. We cannot be bullied.

In the 65th minute, Arteta decided he’d seen enough, and he withdrew the walking wounded, Viktor Gyokeres, and brought on Leandro Trossard.

Gyokeres had an ok game, he was involved in a lot of the play, saw a decent amount of the ball, but was unable to influence the game in the final third, as he would’ve liked.

Trossard’s impact was instantaneous, he began to find little pockets of space, which he exploited ruthlessly. He was drawing players onto him, and this opened the game up. We looked much more dangerous in attack, and were moving forward with more purpose.

In the 70^th minute, Arteta took off Eze, and brought on Gabriel Martinelli, a substitution I most certainly disagreed with. Martinelli’s form had been atrocious, and I couldn’t fathom how he was going to help us get the goal we so desperately needed.

Well, it only took Martinelli 36 seconds, to tell me to shut up. A lovely headed flick in the middle of the park from Declan Rice, landed in Trossard’s path, and he flicked the ball through to Martinelli… He ran onto the ball, and managed to get the ball under his spell with a mesmeric first touch, which put him through on goal, and he held off the defender, and slotted the ball underneath the Bilbao keeper. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!!!  1-0 to the Arsenal.

Yes Martinelli! YEAH-HEH-EH-ESS!! I didn’t doubt you for a second! (Haha)

The whole team rushed to celebrate with Martinelli, and you could see that they were genuinely happy for him, as was I… Because even when he’s not scoring, or assisting, he works tirelessly for the team, and very rarely abandons his defensive duties, which Arteta demands from all his wingers.

Martinelli after the goal, was brimming with confidence. His runs were direct, and there was a belief, and a certainty, about his end product… and this was borne out in the 87^th minute, when he sprinted down the byline, beat his defender, and picked out Trossard, who was unmarked in the box. Trossard took a touch, and floated the ball into the roof of the net. It was a clever finish, and it took a slight deflection, but we don’t care about that.. The Arsenal were now 2-0 up, and looked to of secured their first win in this Champions League campaign, and away from home at that.

Both substitutes scored, and gave each other an assist too. Arteta not only must be praised for making the changes when he did, but also for the players he chose to change the game.

It finished 2-0, and Arsenal became the first team in the competition’s history, to beat Spanish opposition, six times in-a-row. A silly record I know, but it’s a record, nonetheless.

I’d much rather have the record of winning the Champions League, for the first time in our history. Well, we’re moving in the right direction with this win.

It was nice to keep another clean sheet, and it was partly due to colossal performances from both our centre-backs, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Cristhian Mosquera. They were immense, and snuffed out anything that even resembled a Bilbao goal attempt.

We didn’t get to see Max Dowman, but just him being with the squad on a Champions League night, will do wonders for his football education.

There were debuts late on, for Piero Hincapie, and Christian Norgaard, but they were not on the pitch long enough, for a fair performance analysis.

Overall, a good night for Arsenal. There were no new injuries, we won the game, and we’re gathering a winning momentum. This is perfect preparation for our game against Manchester City on Sunday.