Arsenal shocked the footballing world on Tuesday evening as they won 3-0 against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Real Madrid were favourites heading into this game, and while Thierry Henry believed in Arsenal, nobody expected the Gunners to thrash the European champions in this fashion.
There was plenty of reason to be worried heading into this game. Arsenal didn’t have a recognised number nine after Kai Havertz was ruled out for the season, while Gabriel Magalhaes was injured in the build-up to this game.
Jakub Kiwior had to come in for Gabriel, and speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Ian Wright has claimed that Kiwior proved him completely wrong with his performance against the European champions.
Ian Wright proven wrong by Jakub Kiwior
Wright spoke about Kiwior and his performance against Real Madrid.
The pundit says he was petrified of Kiwior heading into this game, but he actually dealt with everything very well, claiming that the Poland international looked very calm.
“I think Kiwior, who was somebody that I was petrified of, simply because, like you mentioned, the Bayern Munich game and what Leroy Sane done to him, we didn’t get ourselves in a position where he was that isolated,” Wright said.
“And I thought that he dealt with everything very well, looked very calm. Jurrien Timber, brilliant. Honestly, absolutely fantastic, the same with Saliba.”
Jakub Kiwior stats vs Real Madrid
Madrid would’ve been excused for identifying Kiwior as Arsenal’s weak link heading into this game.
After all, Kiwior has been criticised in recent times and he was poor at this stage last season against Bayern Munich.
However, Kiwior put in a fantastic performance on Tuesday, and although the stats don’t necessarily stand out, they show just how steady the centre-back was.
| Jakub Kiwior stats vs Real Madrid | |
| Tackles | 1 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Pass completion rate | 93% |
The Spanish press were even impressed by Kiwior on the night, and Arsenal can head into the second-leg of this game knowing that their centre-back pairing is more than good enough to deal with the Galacticos.
Who knows? If all goes to plan, perhaps Kiwior could even be a European champion come the end of the season.
