After a hard-fought Premier League victory, Mondays are usually reserved for recovery. This week at Arsenal’s London Colney training centre, though, it was a safe space for music practice as the players acquainted themselves with the Champions League anthem.
“Some of them were joking in the gym, putting the music on,” said Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus.
For most of the squad, walking out of the tunnel to Tony Britten’s famous score tomorrow night will be unfamiliar, but not so for Jesus, who scored 20 goals in 38 games over five years in the competition while playing for his previous club Manchester City.
“When I scored my first (Champions League) goal, I become emotional because 99 per cent of the kids I grew up with dreamed of playing Champions League and becoming a top player,” he says.
Now 26, Jesus is expected to lead Arsenal through a favourable group stage draw, which gets underway on Wednesday against PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates.
Reflecting on hearing that famous song, he said it transports him back to Sao Paulo when he was just a boy: “I remember the times I watched at home and the times I missed school to watch when my mum got crazy. It started from there. It was different to hear the music and to see the best clubs.
“When I was 14 or 15 I had trials at clubs but I always chose to stay at school. I prioritised that and held off the clubs. I would go to school for three hours and then halfway through the day, when we stopped to eat, I would go home to watch the game. Then by the time my mum came home, it was late, so I was already supposed to be home.
“She never knew, but now she does. Now I can say this, but at that time I could not tell my mum. But kids, please don’t do that!”
Arsenal preparing for their Champions League return (Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
After 19 years of unbroken qualification for the tournament, six years have passed without Arsenal’s presence. The signing of Jesus last summer helped spark an upturn in performances last season, but when he arrived the squad had just suffered the disappointment of finishing two points behind Tottenham in the race for qualification.
“I was watching the last games before I came to the club as I had a chat with Edu (sporting director). I was supporting them 100 per cent. I was like, ‘Come on, qualify!’ Everyone here was not happy as they wanted to qualify, but I came here and last season was another chance,” he says.
“Now it is easy to say, but I was 100 per cent confident Arsenal would get back in the Champions League last season. All the competitions, all the trophies, we go to win the competition, and the Champions League is the same.
“If we think opposite, we are wrong, because we are playing for Arsenal. We have to believe, we have to trust the team-mates, the manager, the club and then go for it.”
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Speaking of his team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jesus joked he could have had a second career as a secret agent given the role he played in convincing the Ukrainian to join him in moving from City to London last summer.
“If I convinced him to come, he has to give me something, no?! I’m joking!” laughed Jesus. “I was in Manchester at home with my family and I was supposed to come to London the day after by car. Edu just texted me and said they were going to Zinny’s house, if I want to come to join them to talk with Zin, so I said, ‘OK’.
“I went there and talked with him. He was surprised. I just said, ‘Zina, you have to take a decision like I did and I am happy with this’. He was a little bit, ‘I don’t know, I need to talk with my wife first,’ but he took the decision (to come). I think if you ask him, it was the right decision.”
Now the pair are among a handful of Arsenal players with experience in the Champions League, as they make their return to European football’s top competition.
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(Top photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
