There comes a time in any young professional's career where he gets his chance to prove his worth.


For many Arsenal players this tie against Real Madrid has shown that the future can be bright. Arsene Wenger has constantly extolled the virtues of the young side he is putting together and on Wednesday night a lot of that faith was repaid by the players he sent out.
For me, Alexander Hleb had his best game yet in an Arsenal Jersey and showed for the first time why we paid so much for him in the summer.

Manu Eboue once again looked superb at right back. He was not phased by the opposition at all and looks better every time I see him.
Big Phil Senderos at the back also had a superb game, confidence is a big part of his (or any footballer's) game and he will benefit from the 2 games he has played in this Champions league tie.

Cesc Fabregas just plays with a maturity far beyond his years. How good he'll turn out to be, only time will tell but his ability is not in doubt.


While its apparent that Real Madrid are not the side they were, it should not be overlooked that over 2 legs Arsenal were the better side and the performance 2 weeks ago in Madrid was shown to be no fluke. Real Madrid still lie 2nd in La Liga, David Beckham, Zidane and even Roberto Carlos are still regarded as world class players. Lets remember - before the first leg not many people gave Arsenal a hope of winning this tie, so it's a testament to how this side is growing.


So now the key is to take this belief into the Premiership and keep it going until the end of the season. Liverpool on Sunday will provide another test, every game is now a big game. We'll be a lot closer to knowing whether or not we've turned the corner after Sundays game, then the Premiership still has to be the main focus and we can't afford to drop any more points.