Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze has proclaimed Arsenal star Granit Xhaka as the toughest opponent he has faced in this season’s Europa League.
The Nigeria international is expected to lead the Yellow Submarine’s attack when they square up against Manchester United in Wednesday’s final.
Ahead of the fixture billed for the Polsat Plus Arena Gdansk, the Super Eagle was asked to name which player was hardest to play against. And without mincing words, Chukwueze mentioned the Arsenal star as the opponent that gave him the most trouble.
With Kieran Tierney on the sidelines due to a knee injury, the Switzerland international was deployed at left-back for the first leg semi-final encounter played at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
“It was [Granit] Xhaka,” the 22-year-old told Uefa media.
“He was man-to-man marking. He didn’t give me space. He was just very close to me, and I couldn’t move an inch.”
Also, Chukwueze named teammate Yeremi Pino as this term’s competition’s best young player.
The 18-year-old Spain youth international has been inspirational for Unai Emery’s team – featuring in eight matches and scoring one goal, against Qarabag in October 2020.
“I think it is Yeremi Pino,” he continued.
“I think he's a fantastic player. He's done so well in the Europa League.”
To Chukwueze, the second-leg semi-final showdown against Mikel Arteta’s Gunners was his most dramatic moment of this season’s tournament.
The first leg had ended 2-1 in favour of Emery’s team with the English top flight side needing at least a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture to sail through.
However, the tension-soaked encounter ended 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
“I think it was dramatic against Arsenal,” he added.
“This is my first time reaching the Europa League final. I used to watch them on TV. I can’t wait to be there.”
Having missed his team’s matches against Celta Vigo, Real Valladolid, Sevilla, and Real Madrid due to injury, the winger is expected to return to action against the Red Devils.
Against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, Chukwueze would be hoping to win his first major title with Villarreal since joining them from Diamond Football Academy after helping Nigeria win the 2017 Fifa U17 World Cup in Chile.
He has contributed five goals and six assists in 39 matches across all competitions in the 2020-21 campaign.