ARSENAL midfielder Matteo Guendouzi won the praise of fans for holding a mascot’s hand as the child took part in a training session.
The Gunners play Portuguese outfit Vitoria in the Europa League tonight, but the travelling players had time to make a mascots day in the warm up.
A clip uploaded on Arsenals Twitter shows 20-year-old Guendouzi holding the young boys hand in a keep ball exercise.
Gunners fans – who have previously called the Frenchman a future club captain – praised the Arsenal players for their heartwarming act.
One said: “This are values Arsenal promote. Class acts.”
Another said: “Class.”
One added: “That is pretty cool!”
Class
—
(@khado1096) November 6, 2019
The poor mascot was even the victim of a cruel nutmeg by Reiss Nelson.
Gunners fans have watched their side play on a Thursday in the second tier of European football for the last three seasons.
But tonight Arsenal play on a Wednesday, the second night of Champions League fixtures.
Its because Vitora play in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and are based in Guimaraes, just north of Porto, with their nearest and biggest rivals Braga.
Braga are also playing in this year’s Europa League – and this is the reason that Arsenal’s game was moved to tonight.
The early 3.50pm kick-off time is because a Europa League game cannot clash with a Champions League match for broadcasting reasons.
Turkish side Besiktas are scheduled to visit Braga tomorrow – November 7 and Uefa have shifted the Gunners tie in an effort to avoid traffic congestion and ease the pressure on Portuguese authorities.
The two stadiums are less than 20 minutes apart and the fixture move is designed with safety in mind.
Vitoria’s clash with Standard Liege with also take place on a Wednesday, moving from November 28 a day earlier to November 27.
