Erik ten Hag saluted his "resilient" Manchester United side following their dramatic comeback victory over Barcelona in the Europa League.
Following a pulsating 2-2 draw at Camp Nou last week, the Red Devils fell behind on aggregate to Robert Lewandowski's first-half penalty at Old Trafford.
But Ten Hag's side turned the tie on its head after the break with goals from Fred and substitute Antony sending the hosts through to the last 16 of the competition.
It also marked the first time since defeat by Granada in April 2021 that the Blaugrana had lost having led at half-time.
When asked if this was his biggest win since taking charge, the Dutchman told BT Sport: "Yes, I think so. We've had some good wins – Liverpool, Arsenal at home. Barcelona is the leader of LaLiga, eight points ahead of Real Madrid. To beat them, it's a big win.
"I think we have some great personalities in the team, like Rapha [Varane] and Licha [Lisandro Martinez], they don't fear anyone. Even when you get setbacks, they move on, they carry on, and they are resilient. They want to get a result.
"Even when you concede a penalty, you have to go on; you can turn around such games. When you win a big game like this – after [being] 1-0 down and a difficult situation – I think this is a good bit of motivation in the season."
Following Antony's winner, United have now had 19 goals scored by substitutes in all competitions this season, the most by any side from the big five European leagues.
Alejandro Garnacho also looked dangerous following his introduction, his blocked effort leading to the decisive strike, and Ten Hag hailed the impact of both players.
"We know if we can bring Antony and Garnacho on and get over in the right areas, you get speed, you get running behind, you get dribbles, and you get belief," the manager added.
"They are both so brave; they don't fear anyone. They just take players on, and I think that gives a boost to the whole team."
On Fred, who levelled the tie, he said: "What he does really well is make the runs behind in the right moment, he has good timing. Getting behind the Barcelona midfielders was part of our game plan. I think it was really effective."
The Numbers Game: Can Chelsea dent title hopes of misfiring Gunners?
Ten matches into the Premier League season, Arsenal's hopes of ending their long wait for a league title are already in danger.
Last week's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United made it just seven points from five games, and they now trail leaders Liverpool by seven points.
Injuries and suspensions have taken their toll on Arteta's men, and things do not get much easier for them on Sunday, against a Chelsea team currently above them on goal difference.
Enzo Maresca's Blues fought back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United last time out, and only Manchester City and Liverpool have beaten them since the Italian took over.
We delve into the Opta data to preview Sunday's headline fixture at Stamford Bridge.
What's expected?
Given the two sides are only separated on goal difference ahead of Sunday's match, the Opta supercomputer finds it difficult to split.
Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 41.2%, giving them a slight edge over their hosts, who are a 33.2% shot.
The likelihood of a draw is rated at 25.6%, but you sense Arsenal need to take all three points after seeing their hopes of winning the title drop to 4.4% in Opta's season predictions. Chelsea's own hopes are rated at 0.3%, with City (61.9%) still clear favourites ahead of Liverpool (33.4%).
Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Arsenal (two draws, six defeats), a 2-0 away win in August 2021. The Gunners have managed three victories in their last four league trips to Stamford Bridge (one draw) – as many victories as they recorded in their previous 20 visits (seven draws, 10 defeats).
Arsenal have also won their last six Premier League London derby matches by an aggregate score of 22-3, winning six of those matches by five or more goals.
One such occasion was a 5-0 rout of Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium last April, their biggest-ever margin of victory against the Blues in all competitions.
Blues eye statement victory
When the Premier League fixture list was drawn up, even the most optimistic Chelsea fan may have struggled to visualise the Blues sitting ahead of Arsenal in the table after 10 games.
But Maresca's side have shown promising signs in the early stages of his tenure. Chelsea's last two Premier League defeats this season have come against last season's top three teams – 0-5 versus Arsenal in April, 0-2 versus City in August and 1-2 against Liverpool in October.
They are unbeaten in their last 21 matches against all other teams, winning 14 and drawing seven while scoring 57 goals in total across those games.
The future looks bright for Chelsea, who fielded a starting lineup with an average age of 23 years and 96 days at Old Trafford last week – their youngest-ever XI for a Premier League match against Manchester United.
However, they are still waiting on a first statement win under Maresca, and getting one over on the Gunners would earn him plenty of goodwill among the fans.
Their chances could be decided by the fitness of Cole Palmer, who is an injury doubt after suffering a knock against United.
He opened the scoring when the Blues last welcomed Arsenal to west London for a 2-2 draw last October, scoring his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.
Since then, he has more home goals in the competition than any other player (21), also leading the way for goal involvements (12 – seven goals, five assists, alongside Mohamed Salah) and open-play chances created in 2024-25.
Can fit-again Odegaard get Gunners firing?
Last season, Arsenal won 42 of their 89 Premier League points on their travels, taking nine points from five matches at the homes of their Big Six rivals.
This campaign, however, their failure to hit top form on the road has threatened to end their latest title tilt before it truly got going.
Arsenal have collected seven points from five away matches this term, the same amount as Brighton and fewer than Liverpool (13), Nottingham Forest (11), Chelsea, City and Aston Villa (all 10).
While Arteta has long preached the importance of control, Arsenal have simply not been good enough going forward in those matches. They have attempted just 37 shots on the road in the Premier League this season (7.4 per game), with only Brentford (seven) averaging fewer per away match across the entire division.
The fact Arsenal played significant amounts of time at Manchester City and Bournemouth with a numerical disadvantage likely plays a part, but the fact five teams have attempted at least twice as many shots on the road does not make for good reading (Manchester City 90, Tottenham 83, Crystal Palace 79, Bournemouth 78 and Manchester United 74).
Martin Odegaard's return to training after two months out with an ankle injury is a major boost, with the Norwegian having led all players in the Premier League for expected assists (11.17 xA) and chances created from open play (88) last season.
Arsenal have actually outperformed their underlying attacking metrics this campaign, netting 17 league goals from 15.75 expected goals (xG), so their finishing does not appear to be an issue. The fact they rank eighth in the league for xG does, however, suggest chance creation is a problem.
Arteta will hope Odegaard's return can make the difference, or a title challenge may prove a bridge too far. The last time they lost three successive away Premier League games was in December 2021, and they went on to miss out on a top-four finish that season.
The Norwegian was a late substitute as they were beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. They have now lost three of their last six games in all competitions, as many as their previous 32 beforehand.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson
Since the start of last season, Chelsea striker Jackson has been involved in more London derby goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 goals, two assists).
All of his 12 involvements have come in his last nine such appearances, and he already has six Premier League goals this term.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (seven).
He has also either scored (once) or assisted (twice) a goal in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Aguero (2013 to 2017) and Javier Hernandez (2012 to 2018) the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive appearances.
Kompany unbothered by modest scoreline as Bayern beat Benfica
Vincent Kompany was pleased with the way Bayern Munich attacked at home to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, despite only winning 1-0.
The victory ended a run of back-to-back defeats for the German team in the competition, leaving them 17th in the league with six points from four matches.
"It's important for us to win a game this way. In the past, we always scored three, four or five goals, but today we stayed calm," Kompany told the official club website.
"We had 24 shots on goal and the opposition had one. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game. There are games in which the last pass just isn't as precise as necessary.
"We know we can decide matches within the first five minutes if we're on good form. That didn't happen today. But in the end, it's the Champions League. It was a good game and a good win."
Midfielder Jamal Musiala scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute, turning home Harry Kane's knockdown after Leroy Sane had played the ball across the box.
Sane is yet to start a game in any competition for Bayern this season, coming on in the 56th minute on Wednesday, but his contribution was not lost on Kompany.
"Obviously, I'm really happy to have the quality of Leroy Sane and Michael Olise in the same position - not to forget Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. You can say Leroy turned this game around today," he said.
The goalscorer Musiala, meanwhile, was pleased after scoring his fifth goal in all competitions for the club this season.
“We had good moments, but the opposition played and defended well. Of course, there are still things we can improve, but it's important to have won the three points," he said.
"I don't know what's going on with me scoring headers at the moment. The ball dropped nicely for me a few times and I just keep trying to get into good positions I can score easy goals from.
"We all knew we had to win tonight and we did a good job. We had a tough time settling into the game, but we can't win by four or five goals every time. Sometimes a 1-0 win has to be enough.”
Flick lauds Barcelona's focus in big Red Star win
Hansi Flick was delighted with Barcelona's focus and determination as they earned a commanding 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice to set them on their way, with Inigo Martinez, Raphinha and Fermi Lopez also getting on the scoresheet as Barcelona remained in control throughout.
It was a victory that lifted Barca to sixth place in the 36-team Champions League table on nine points, having scored a competition-leading 15 goals in four games.
In fact, Barcelona have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big-five European leagues. Meanwhile, their 14 wins are the joint-most of any side, along with Liverpool.
After a third consecutive triumph in the Champions League, Flick said he liked how his side got things done with the seriousness required.
"The most important thing is the three points. It's not easy to win away from home in this competition, the Champions League is complicated," Flick, who led Bayern Munich to the 2020 Champions League title, told Movistar Plus.
"I'm very happy, I really value what we're doing. We've been very good on the ball, and we've put a lot of pressure on.
"Red Star played very well, they knew how to play with the ball, and it's difficult to defend against them. I really appreciate my players being focused for 90 minutes because it's not easy."
Lewandowski's double means he is level with team-mate Raphinha, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres as the competition's top scorer with five goals.
The Pole has scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe’s big-five leagues across all competitions. 11 of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.
And Lewandowski is thrilled with Flick's aggressive approach.
"Since the beginning of the season we have had a goal: we have to play a very attacking football but without losing sight of how well our defensive line has been playing," Lewandowski said.
"Everything that works so far is almost perfect. We have to look at what we can do better, sure, but I feel very good, the team is very happy.
"I think in this new Champions League format, winning away games is very important. In the first half, we played a bit slow, but in the second half, we had a lot of chances.
"Sometimes, when a team plays very defensively like Red Star today, we need a bit of patience. I'm always looking for a free space to be able to touch a ball and score. That's why I'm very happy. As a team, we played very well."
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