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Arsenal got off to winning ways in the Champions League against Athletic Bilbao. Sure, the performance wasn't pretty at times, and Arsenal relied on their substitutes a little too much, but it's a testament to the exceptional squad depth that Mikel Arteta has built.
This season, the Gunners have been hit with injury after injury. Unfortunately, many of those injuries have been felt by key players. In previous seasons, this would have meant the beginning of the end for Arsenal, but not this time around.
Players from the sub bench have stepped up, and if anything, they're beginning to make positions their own.
One player who has benefited from squad rotation is Cristhian Mosquera. The Spanish defender signed from Villarreal over the summer and, admittedly, little was known about him.
However, it took him almost no time at all to make everything about his style of play known about to Arsenal fans. It begun before the international break, when William Saliba went down injured early on. Mosquera came on to cover and played almost the entire match, excellently too.
He's in great form, with a hattrick of world-class performances in the Gunners' backline.
Cristhian Mosquera played a blinder... on his Champions League debut?!
Against Athletic Bilbao, a club Mosquera is more than familiar with facing during his time in Liga, Mosquera rose higher than any other player on the pitch (literally, at times - He made the most headed clearances in the match, after all).
Not only was Mosquera confident in his defensive ability, FotMob reports he completed the most passes (74) in the match.
What many wouldn't have known, at least not by watching him tonight, was that he just made his Champions League debut. The opposition was familiar, but the competition wasn't.
Yet, you'd never know it. Mosquera looked more than comfortable, despite most of the factors weighing against him. Bear in mind, his Arsenal teammates are still somewhat new, and he is playing in an entirely new system under Mikel Arteta.
Mosquera is just 21 years old too, which is another thing impossible to believe. We think he's wearing fancy dress, and he's actually a more experienced defender than he's letting on.
If Arsenal get many more years out of Mosquera, then the recruitment team deserve lifetime contracts as well as Mosquera. What a piece of business by Arsenal, proven yet again tonight.