Media left amazed by £45m Arsenal player’s display vs Barcelona today

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Arsenal picked up a 5-3 win against Barcelona in a pre-season friendly today and Gabriel Jesus has impressed the media with his display.

Mikel Arteta’s men put it an emphatic attacking performance against the La Liga giants off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United over the weekend. 

The Gunners found themselves behind inside the opening 10 minutes of the game as Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring.

Bukayo Saka quickly levelled things up but Arsenal fell behind once again after Raphinha’s deflected free-kick beat Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks. 

Kai Havertz got Arsenal back on level terms with a well-taken finish and the Gunners pulled away in the second-half thanks to a brace from Leandro Trossard.

Gabriel Jesus set up the Belgian forward for his first of the game and despite not getting on the scoresheet, the Brazilian put it in an encouraging display.

Media impressed with Jesus

Jesus looked back to his brilliant best against Barcelona after a difficult end to the last campaign.

The 26-year-old was a standout performer for Arsenal after making the £45 million switch from Manchester City last summer. But his form dropped off after returning from a serious knee injury he picked up at the World Cup.

And Football.London suggested that Jesus had rediscovered his best form against Barca today, handing him a seven out of 10 for his performance.

The outlet wrote: “Looked back to his best. A constant nuisance for the Barcelona backline who weren’t given a minutes peace.

“Didn’t score but was at the heart of almost everything good Arsenal did going forward.”

The Daily Mail gave Jesus the same rating for his display and noted that he was involved in many of Arsenal’s best moments going forward.

“A livewire up front,” the outlet wrote. “Aggressively crunched twice in the first five minutes but kept coming back for more.

“Central to many of the team’s forays forward.”

Jesus struggled to get back to his best last season after he was sidelined for around three months.

Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard both stepped up in his absence, but Arsenal were a much better side with the Brazilian firing on all cylinders during the early stages of the season.

The Brazil international will be desperate to add more goals to his game this season after netting 11 times in 33 appearances last time out.