Arsenal: Bukayo Saka inspired by Thierry Henry ahead of Real Madrid showdown | OneFootball

Saka wants to create another special Arsenal memory after Henry magic at the Bernabeu in 2006

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Bukayo Saka has revealed Thierry Henry’s words of wisdom are inspiring him as Arsenal prepare to take on Real Madrid.

Saka says Henry has encouraged him to play with confidence and that will be vital when Arsenal take on Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The Gunners are hosting Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Emirates Stadium and Saka is primed to start after recovering from his hamstring injury.

Saka is primed to start for Arsenal against Real Madrid on Tuesday

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“I think for me, the biggest thing I take when I speak to Thierry is the confidence that he has in himself,” said Saka.

“Obviously, he gives me a few details on certain situations on the pitch and what he sees and how he sees the game. But for me, when I speak to him, I like the way he’s so confident.

“He genuinely believed that when he was on the pitch, no one could stop him. I think with that belief, he literally just destroyed the league. So, that’s what I admire about him the most.”

Henry is Arsenal’s record goalscorer and one of his finest moments came against Real Madrid during the 2005-06 season.

The Frenchman scored the winner as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 1-0 at the Bernabeu, with the Gunners reaching the final that year.

Asked if he’s dreamt of having a similar moment, Saka said: “Yeah, of course. His moment was his moment. Obviously, here we want to write our own story, but something like that would be nice.”

Henry scored the winner as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 1-0 at the Bernabeu in 2006

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Saka believes Tuesday will be his biggest game in an Arsenal shirt and he used the match as motivation during his recovery.

“I mean if you ask my physios, there was a lot of conversation about this game and wanting to be back, and not just back, but back in good shape and feeling good,” said Saka.

Saka tore his hamstring in December and was forced to undergo surgery. The winger has admitted the journey back was “tough”, but the break helped him mentally.

“It was tough for me, came at a bad moment, but I’m just focused now on the positives and I couldn’t ask to come back at a better time of the season than now.

“I think mentally it was really good for me. Obviously it was really tough initially to find out the extent of my injury, that I was going to have to have surgery.

“It was really tough for me to hear the news at first, but once it was done and it was successful, I was just focused on coming back stronger and had a lot of time.”