Saka rallies fans ahead of UCL QF vs Madrid, says 'Let's make it Emirates' greatest night'

London, April 7 (IANS) Ahead of what Bukayo Saka describes as the biggest game of his club career, the Arsenal winger believes the fans will create ‘the most beautiful night the Emirates has ever witnessed’ against Real Madrid in the first leg of the UCL quarter-finals.

Arsenal have reached the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League for two straight seasons for the first time since reaching the final-eight three seasons in a row between 2008 and 2010.

"It would mean a lot to us. It's the first time the club has been in back-to-back Champions League quarter finals for a while now so tomorrow night we want to take the next step and try and get over the line.

"It's Madrid, you have to respect that and accept what they've done in history but tomorrow anything can happen, we can't focus too much on that,” said Saka in the pre-match conference.

Saka has been out for over three months after tearing a hamstring at Crystal Palace just before Christmas which required surgery, but after plenty of rehab he returned to the squad for the game against Fulham and scored a goal within just six minutes of being substituted onto the pitch. He was also brought onto the pitch in the 1-1 draw against Everton on Saturday which means his first start will be against the Madrid side.

With a lot of Gunners fans attaching their hopes to Saka, the 23-year-old believes he could not have asked for a better time to return to action.

"It was tough for me, it came at a bad moment but I'm just focused now on the positives and I couldn't ask to come back at a better time of the season than now."

He also added that having been one of the most important players in his side, the pressure of the workload on the young Englishman was immense and the injury provided him with the first proper break of his career which allowed him to recover and feel fresh from a mental standpoint.

"I think mentally it was really good for me. Obviously it was really tough for me initially to find out the extent of my injury, that I was going to have surgery, it was really tough for me to hear the news at first but once it was done and successful I was just focused on coming back stronger and I had a lot of time.

"The past five years I've been playing game after game so it was the first proper break I've had. It was really good for me. I got to do a lot of things that I don't normally do. It's really nice to be back and I feel fresh mentally,” Saka added.

--IANS

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