Hector Bellerin showed bags of desire late in the game on Thursday night to beat Cologne’s defence to a rebound and slot the ball beyond Timo Horn for our third and final goal.
The Spaniard’s first goal of the season rounded off a fine comeback that started when Sead Kolasinac came off the bench to rifle in a volley.
Here’s Hector’s take on a dramatic night - on and off the pitch.
on an important win…
Definitely. It’s a new competition for us and we knew we needed to set the tone. We think we’re one of the best teams in the competition, so we have to show that on the pitch. After not a very good start, the coach decided to change the tactics and it worked for us with Sead coming on, scoring and helping us to get a boost in the second half. I’m very happy.
on a strange pre-match…
Obviously with the nutrition we were ready to play at 8pm, but things happened and it meant we had to play an hour late. We had to be ready - these things happen sometimes, not often, but we have to be ready as players. We started a bit with cold feet but then after it just worked.
on confidence going into the Chelsea game…
I think the win against Bournemouth in the league gave us a lot of confidence and today the win and coming back from [being behind] always gives you that boost. We’re going to train hard in these two days coming and then we’re going to be ready for Chelsea at the weekend.
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