Under-19s coach Steve Gatting spoke to Arsenal.com after his side beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 on Tuesday to reach the last eight of the Uefa Youth League.
Read a transcript of what he had to say below:
on getting to the quarter-finals…
Obviously we're delighted with the win and the performance.
on how he assessed the performance…
We knew they were a good passing side, we decided before the game to try and pressurise them which I thought we did very well in the first 30 minutes, and from that we created two or three very good chances. We didn't score as many as we should have and they got back into the game.
on digging deep in the second half…
It's never ideal to concede a goal right before half-time but the team responded in the second half, we started positively and got the next goal. Credit to the boys, we put them under more pressure after that and got the third goal.
on playing Barcelona next…
Of course we are excited, it's what it's all about. Playing Barcelona will be a great experience for the team.
on these games being important for players like Zelalem…
He's trained with the first team but these games are of a good level and so is the under-21 league. Gedion will improve his power and strength by playing in these games and it's a great experience for him.
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