Oleksandr Zinchenko’s half-time message to two Arsenal stars speaks volumes

Oleksandr Zinchenko was one of the players who starred in a much-changed Arsenal XI as they saw off PSV Eindhoven 9-3 on aggregate to reach the Champions League quarter-finals

A jovial Oleksandr Zinchenko told Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard that he was in awe of their work ethic after running the engine room against PSV Eindhoven.

The Ukraine international, 28, was named in a much-changed starting XI by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta with a place in the Champions League quarter-finals all but assured after a thumping 7-1 win in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.

Zinchenko regularly plays in central midfield for his country but has been played mainly as a left-back for the majority of his Premier League career.

He scored and impressed in Arteta’s new-look team as they drew 2-2 on the night. And he quipped that he paid tribute to Rice and Odegaard’s work ethic during the half-time interval.

When he was asked about playing there again, he told TNT Sports: “I wouldn’t say it’s a completely new position for me because all my life I’ve been playing there, and for the national team a lot. Obviously at this high level, at Arsenal, it’s different demands.

“I just said to the lads at half-time, to Martin [Odegaard] and Declan [Rice], ‘Unbelievable, now I realise how much you guys run every three days!’. This is the demands, this is the level.”

Arsenal’s reward for putting PSV to the sword over two legs means they will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals after they beat Atletico Madrid on penalties to advance.

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The Gunners have now reached the last eight of the Champions League in successive years and Arteta paid tribute to that accomplishment. He said post-match: “We have to value that and recognise it’s very difficult to do. Now we want to make the next step. It’s very difficult but we are capable to do it.

‘It is important for us because we want to win – and to win, you have to go through the stages, and because the club needs it.

“We are a club that want to be the best and want to be competing with the best in the world. To do that you have to constantly be there. It’s very difficult but we’ve done it for two years in a row and we have the capacity and ability to do it even better.”

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