Mikel Arteta lauds ‘dream’ Arsenal performance against Lens

Mikel Arteta admitted that he couldn’t have asked for a greater performance from his Arsenal team as they cruised past Lens on Wednesday.

The Gunners advanced to the Champions League knockout stages with a 6-0 thrashing of the French side at the Emirates, securing their place as Group B victors.

In a strong first half, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard all scored, before substitute Jorginho converted a late penalty to secure Arsenal’s second-largest Champions League victory of all time.

“It was a genuine dream,” Arteta said. “We had a chance to qualify today and we’ve done it in a really convincing way against a really good side. The team from the beginning showed a lot of aggression and determination to go for the game.

“It’s great we’re able to win in this way and we showed at home not to concede any goals and score a lot which is a positive factor. The players need to believe we can do that against big opponents.”

Arsenal are also guaranteed a top-spot finish in their group after beating the Ligue 1 side.