Zubimendi aims to end first season with Euro glory | Interview

Martin Zubimendi has settled into life in north London brilliantly this season, scoring six goals and helping us to the Champions League semi-finals in his debut campaign.

The Spaniard joined from Real Sociedad, leaving San Sebastián for the first time. In an interview with UEFA ahead of the second leg of our Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid, Martin spoke about the challenges he’s faced in the first year living away from home:

“Coming here has been an adaptation I’ve had to make, especially because of the people I had in San Sebastian,” he said. “I had never moved away from home before. “Usually, whenever I had some free time, there was always someone to hang out with, so here I’ve had to adapt and try new things.

“One of the things I miss most is my dog; we’ve always lived together until now, and right now she’s with my dad back there.”

While Martin has had to adapt to life away from Spain, he’s found some home comforts at Arsenal, especially given the number of Spanish teammates he’s surrounded by.

Another comfort for Martin was his connection with Mikel Arteta. Zubi and the boss came through Antiguoko, a feeder club in the Basque region of Spain that has produced some of the outstanding Spanish talent over the past several decades.

“I’m honoured to have been part of this club,” Martin said, “it’s a neighbourhood club that acts as a feeder club for many bigger teams. Fortunately many players have come through that club and it’s led to the coincidence that both of us are here today.”

But even though both Martin and Mikel had similar foundations, our no.36 feels he has plenty to learn from his manager.

“Once I joined the club I realised that I had a lot to learn; he’s a coach who’s seen a lot, who’s learnt a lot and who’s studied a lot. You can see that since I’ve joined the club I’ve become a different player.

“We work really hard, all of our training sessions have tactical, technical and strategic aspects. Ultimately, repetition leads to perfection, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.

“It goes without saying that in the Premier League, the physical side of things is really important, but intelligence is still important when it comes to seeing something different and making a real difference.”

Despite scoring five of his six goals for us in the top-flight, the very best Zubimendi performances this season have arguably come in the Champions League.

Asked about our incredible record in this season’s competition, where we have ten wins and eight clean sheets from 13 games, our midfield maestro praised our squad’s consistency.

“The season has been all about consistency; every match counts. It doesn’t matter to us where we’re playing or who we’re facing. I’m happy about that because we’ve been really focused for every match and that’s not been easy.

“I think Arsenal have gone from strength to strength in this competition in the last few years, quarter-finals, semi-finals last year. So it’s clear that we’re making good progress and there’s no reason (for that to stop).”

After our 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of our Champions League semi-final, Martin believes that we have every chance of progressing to our first final since 2006, especially with the power of the Emirates behind us.

“Playing at the Emirates on a European night is different. I think that even in the days leading up to it, you can feel the atmosphere building.

“Once you get to the stadium, the atmosphere is incredible. You can really sense that desire to win this Champions League that everyone wants so much, so I think that the semi-final (second leg) is going to be incredible.”