Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny, center, scores his side's first goal during the Champions League round of 16 second leg soccer match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. (AP)
Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny is satisfied with his performance during Arsenal's 3-1 loss (5-1 on aggregate) to Barcelona on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 at the Nou Camp.
"We know the Nou Camp is a big stadium and a great stadium too but I'm happy with my performance today, but not that happy about the result. I knew it'd be hard, but there is no 'hard' in football," the 23-year-old talent told his English club’s official website after the game in which the three big stars Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored.
The young Pharaoh scored the Gunners only goal to make it 1-1 in the 51st minute after receiving a pass from Alexis Sanchez with an unstoppable right-footed curler that nestled into the top corner from the edge of the area. He also ran the longest distance in the game catching the eyes and gaining wide international media attention.
"We did what we could today. Sure, we lost, but we tried our best. We were playing against a big team," Elneny added.
It was the Egyptian's first Champions League appearance since joining from Basel in the January transfer window, making history being the only Egyptian to score against Barcelona in an official game, after former Ajax striker Mido and Ahly's Hani El-Egeizi netted against the Catalans in friendly matches.
"We're still up for the league. We need to focus. We still have nine games to go and God willing we can do it," Elneny concluded.
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