Kevin Danso and Lens had no answer to Arsenal’s onslaught last night (Picture: beIN Sport)
Lens defender Kevin Danso conceded Arsenal must be considered among the favourites to win the Champions League after the Gunners crushed the Ligue 1 side 6-0 last night.
Mikel Arteta’s side have largely played with the handbrake on this season, but put their foot to the floor last night to ensure their progression to the knockout stages as group winners.
Five goals in a devastating first half onslaught put Lens to the sword and put Arsenal on course to avenge their defeat earlier in the competition.
Jorginho’s late penalty put the seal on Arsenal’s biggest win of the campaign so far and Danso was impressed with the pace and ruthlessness of a side who appear intent on making a major impression in a tournament they had been absent from for six, long years.
‘Arsenal was just the better team, I don’t think we turne dup as much as we could’ve,’ admitted Austrial international Danso after the game.
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‘They’re one of the best teams in the world at the moment and we saw that today. Three quick goals in succession and that kind of breaks the camels back.
‘If they play like they did today obviously (they can win it). There’s a lot of good teams in this competition. You have to take it game by game and day by day.’
After a hard-fought win over Brentford last weekend, meanwhile, Arteta was delighted his side were able to showcase the more aesthetically pleasing aspects of their football, with his front five all finding themselves on the scoresheet.
‘I didn’t even dream like this, but we had the chance to qualify today and become top of the group and we’ve done it in a really convincing way against a really good side,’ said the Arsenal manager.
‘I think the team right from the beginning showed a lot of aggression and determination to go for the game, everything happened in the right way especially in the first 30 minutes and that was really helpful to win the game.
‘It’s a great that we are able to win in this way, but I think consistently we have shown at home not to concede any goals, and score a lot of goals, that’s a really positive factor.
‘Those players need to have those experiences, and believe that we can do it against big opponents, now let’s wait, we have to park it and in February we will know who we are facing and let’s see how we are in that moment.’
MORE : Mikel Arteta explains why he didn’t take off Martin Odegaard despite 6-0 lead
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