Jakub Kiwior is relishing the opportunities provided by Mikel Arteta as he helped us to a 3-0 win at home to Real Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Focusing on the second leg when he spoke to us at Sobha Realty Training Centre recently, our Polish defender explained how much he’s looking forward to his first time at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
“I think this is an amazing stadium,” he said. “I've never been there, and of course for me this is a very good experience. I think it's one of the biggest stadiums, so I'm waiting for this game.
“It's important to stay calm, but we have to win the second leg.”
"I didn't feel nervous. This was one of the biggest games in my career, but I was ready."
Asked to reflect on our success in the first leg, during which he helped keep a clean sheet alongside William Saliba, Jakub spoke about how good it felt to win with such conviction.
“After the game I felt really good,” he said. “You know that after a game like that, there's no other way, you just feel really good, but I still feel like it's not over yet. The most difficult thing is still ahead of us. So I'm still cool-headed.
“I didn't feel nervous. Of course, this was one of the biggest games in my career. But of course, I had the big game [against Kylian Mbappe] in the national team, but I was ready for everything, and I felt very good before the game.
“Every clean sheet is perfect for me, because this is my job on the pitch. Mbappe is very quick, he's a very good player, one of the best strikers for this moment.
“I have to be ready for everything. Of course Gabi could’ve played this game but he's injured, and I have to be ready for everything. I didn't wait for this moment, but I hope he comes back very quick and we can train together fighting for the one position.”
Commenting on his partnership with William Saliba, Jakub was delighted to learn that the two have never lost a game that they’ve started together.
“This is good, so we have to continue our next game, and I hope it will be the same and we continue,” he said. “We spoke a lot, so we have a very good combination, very good communication on the pitch.”
Jakub was also asked about how, from his point of view, Mikel Merino has adapted to the role of centre-forward in our team.
“[His goal] was amazing because he had a very difficult position, because I think he stayed back on the ball and he turned, and Myles had an amazing assist, because he could try to shoot and everything, but he passed to Mikel and Mikel finished.“
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