Arsenal beat Slavia Prague as Raya recalls Champions League final defeat

Arsenal beat visitors Slavia Prague to move up to third in the Champions League league phase with 10 points from four matches. Goalkeeper David Raya said the memory of the final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain continues to motivate the team.

Arsenal led by two goals at the end of the first half, with Viktor Gyökeres making the difference in the match. Slavia Prague applied pressure after the break, but Raya kept his team in front with a save from Oscar Kobyliak’s header. The result extended the London side’s unbeaten run in its last 10 away matches in Europe.

Raya said the pain of losing the final on penalties in Budapest would not leave the team’s memory, and that Arsenal hoped to win the competition to move on from the experience. He added that the motivation had to remain, and that the team wanted to improve on what it had achieved this year. He also credited his repeated saves to his self-belief, hard work and the coaching staff’s trust, noting the importance of his consistency under Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal will host Borussia Dortmund later this month, then Real Madrid on 9 December. The result of the latter match could affect its chances of finishing in the top two in the league phase, which would guarantee that it plays the second legs of its knockout ties at the Emirates Stadium.