Gabriel Magalhaes has been close to flawless for Arsenal this season; however, away at Bayer Leverkusen, the defender looked rattled up against Christian Kofane.
Mikel Arteta will be slightly frustrated with his team’s performance at the BayArena as they were forced to salvage a draw against the Bundesliga outfit.
Who was Arsenal’s most disappointing player against Bayer Leverkusen?
Arsenal still have work to do in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium as they were only able to come away from Leverkusen with a draw.
The North London club’s issues on the night were highlighted through the performance of Gabriel, who struggled for the first time this season.
Gabriel Magalhaes looked rattled vs Bayer Leverkusen for the first time this season
Gabriel Magalhaes is so often Arsenal’s most reliable player, but he had a rare off-night in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Gunners’ fans will be slightly worried ahead of the second leg, having watched Leverkusen striker Christian Kofane prove to be a real handful for the Brazilian.
Gabriel is one of the most composed players in the Premier League, so to see him making rash decisions against Leverkusen was a surprise.
The 28-year-old contested five ground duels against Leverkusen, but managed to win just two of them during the 90 minutes.
On the ball, the defender also managed to lose possession six times, which was quite uncharacteristic of a player like him.
Gabriel has successfully dealt with players like Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, and Joao Pedro this season, but he just looked off the pace against Kofane.
The 19-year-old proved to be a thorn in the side of Gabriel, with Lucy Ward telling TNT Sport: “He’s always an outlet, always an outball. He works really hard with his running.”
Arteta and Arsenal will need to be mindful of the young striker in the second leg and make sure that they have learned their lesson.
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