“Impactors,” Mikel Arteta called them, and Gabriel Martinelli made quite an impact at San Mamés. “Sometimes you just need a second to change the history of a football club,” the Arsenal manager said last spring – and although describing the goal that set up victory here in those terms would be pushing it, the beginning of a Champions League campaign in which they aspire to do just that underlined why he has insisted on the importance of strength in depth.
On a night when they were without seven key men and were yet to find a way through a club that are the ultimate in resistance, the solution came from the bench.
Written by Sid Lowe at San Mamés
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/16/athletic-bilbao-arsenal-champions-league-match-report under the title “Gabriel Martinelli’s instant impact gives Arsenal opening win at Athletic Bilbao”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
