Arsenal put up a wonderful display in their final group game of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League with an emphatic 4-1 away win over Basel. Lucas Perez grabbed his first hat-trick for Arsenal in his first Champions League start for the Gunners.

Ludogorets did the unlikely in Paris by holding PSG to a 2-2 draw in a game that home team needed to win to be sure of a top place finish. But the spirit of Tottenham fell on the Parisians as they could only comeback to end the game 2-2 thus gifting Arsenal the top spot.

After the 5th group game, it was very unlikely that Arsenal would emerge as group winners but football is a funny game. The Gunners, against the odds are group winners for the 1st time in 5 years. They also finished the group stage unbeaten for the first time since 2005/06.

It was a night of firsts as Alex Iwobi grabbed his first goal of the season and his first ever Champions League goal. His goal was assisted by Mesut Ozil who now has 23 assists since his debut in the UEFA Champions League. According to OptaJoe, only Lionel Messi (24) and Cristiano Ronaldo (26) have provided more assists.

Lucas Perez also joins the league of Arsenal players that have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League – Henry, Bendtner, Welbeck, Giroud and Ozil. Will his goals make him a regular starter in the Premier League? Kudos to Gibbs who grabbed all three assists for Perez’s hat-trick.

Manchester City failed to beat Celtic but Kelechi Iheanacho scored his 13th goal for Manchester City in just 18 starts. The game ended 1-1 but there was Tosin Adarabioyo is the youngest Manchester City player to start a Champions League game. Is he Nigerian?

Ok. That’s all for today.

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