Freddie Ljungberg explains why Bukayo Saka was "a bit upset" before Standard Liege game

Freddie Ljungberg said that Arsenal hero Bukayo Saka was “a bit upset” with him before the Gunners’ clash with Standard Liege.

The 18-year-old provided an assist for Alexandre Lacazette and then scored a goal himself as Arsenal battled back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw and progress to the Europa League’s last-32 as group winners.

Arsenal interim boss Ljungberg started with three centre-backs in Belgium, forcing Saka into an unfamiliar left wing-back role.

But the teenager flourished in the position, and led the fightback after Arsenal had been 2-0 down with just 12 minutes remaining.

“He was amazing,” said Ljungberg when discussing Saka in his post-match press conference.

“He was a bit upset with me before the game that he had to play wing-back and full-back. He’s a tremendous talent.

“His final ball and last bit is always effective.

“I feel sorry for our young players. A lot of them haven’t been on loan, they’ve not had that exposure to men’s football.

“Some of them made mistakes but they’ll learn from those mistakes and won’t do them again.

“Bukayo had a tremendous night.”

Ljungberg made several changes for the game, but the point was enough to win Arsenal the group after Frankfurt lost 3-2 to Vitoria in Thursday’s other Group F clash.

“It’s very, very good [topping the group],” said Ljungberg.

“We started the group really well and had some problems.

“We played a lot of games lately, I wanted to give the young ones a chance but I needed to rotate.

We have a game again on Sunday. Of course it was a small gamble but I believe in those young players and they pulled through and we’re top of the group.”