Aaron Ramsey feels Arsenal should not fear anybody in the last 16 of the Champions League after his “best goal” helped silence the critics as the Gunners won 4-1 at Galatasaray.
The 23-year-old’s sensational long-range half-volley – which was so good it was applauded by the home fans at the Turk Telekom Arena made it 3-0 after half an hour.
Arsene Wenger’s men delivered a commanding display in Istanbul with a much-changed side, showing no hangover from Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Stoke, which left them sixth in the Premier League.
Ramsey’s superb effort added to his neat finish inside the area after 11 minutes, and followed Lukas Podolski’s earlier opener for
the visitors. Ramsey had remained modest in his reaction, but having seen the sublime finish replayed over and over again, the Wales midfielder hailed it as the outstanding strike of his career so far.
“I have just seen it back, and I thought it was a lot closer, but it was quite far out and definitely my best goal now,” Ramsey said.
Despite the impressive victory, Arsenal, who had surrendered a 3-0 lead against Anderlecht on the fourth Champions League match day, were unable to secure top spot in Group D, with Borussia Dortmund going through to Monday’s draw as seeds.
That means Arsenal could again face one of Europe’s heavyweights in the knock-out stages next year, such as defending champions Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. Ramsey, though, believes the Gunners – who expect to be boosted by the return
of Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil by the next set of Champions League fixtures in February – can go into any such tie with confidence.
“On our day, we are capable of giving anyone a game, hopefully the draw is a bit more kinder to us this time,” added Ramsey.
Podolski, who scored goal number four to complete a brace and end a miserable spell of being left out of the side, added: “For me it was important to play 90 minutes and keep going.
“It is not always easy to come in and do well, so it was good for me to do that.”
