Tuesday night was a fantastic night of football in the Champions League, with great games capped off by some incredible goals.
For example, Paris Saint-Germain’s Thomas Meunier’s volley to see off a stubborn Basel was fantastic, and Antoine Griezmann’s improvised volley against Rostov was a moment of brilliance from a technically gifted footballer.
However, for Jean-Pierre Papin, one of France’s most prolific goalscorers of all time (303 goals in 542 games), one stood out from the lot, and that was Mesut Özil’s incredible solo goal to secure Arsenal’s comeback win against Ludogorets.
In only seven touches, the attacking midfielder managed to dink the ball over the keeper, completely sell two defenders and put the ball in the back of the net.
Papin said: “It’s the kind of goal you dream of scoring as a player. It’s the nicest because it’s so complicated, especially when you’re in the 88th minute, it’s 2-2 and you’re knackered. He showed incredible composure. Everything looks easy when it’s all so difficult.
“Özil has it all to do, and he does it perfectly, always keeping his head up. Once he’s chipped the keeper, everyone thinks he’s going to shoot, especially the two defenders. His first touch on the half-volley is fabulous, and his second, where he sells the defenders who have bombed back, is extraordinary. It makes you dream.”
Probably running out of superlatives at this point, the pundit ended his analysis of the goal there; a goal that was voted the best of the three mentioned in this article by L’Equipe readers (55%), ahead of Thomas Meunier’s (30%) and Antoine Griezmann’s (15%).
