The importance of the north London derby hit home for Shkodran Mustafi when he had his first taste of the fixture last season.
Although the game ended in a 1-1 draw, the Germany international soaked up the “special” atmosphere that surrounds the game.
“When you sign for Arsenal everyone tells you it’s a big derby,” Mustafi told Arsenal Player. “It’s an important game and when you play it you feel it a little bit as well, because you feel that for both teams it is something special.
“We went in front in that game, and then we conceded the equaliser. It was a big game, but it was at the end a little bit disappointing.
“It was intense and I think for the fans and the people watching it was a nice game. Obviously it’s better for the Arsenal fans when you win, but we have to give credit to them as well because they’re a good team too.”
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
