Pedro Gonçalves on Juventus vs Sporting CP and his stunning goal against Arsenal

Aged 24, Pedro Gonçalves is resigned to the fact that he may already have scored the biggest and best goal of his career, his exceptional effort from distance in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 decider against Arsenal a killer combination of importance and stunning execution.

However, the attacking midfielder – who has found his feet in Lisbon after spells with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Famalição – hopes the season has a few more shocks in store as his side prepare to take on Juventus in the quarter-finals. He told UEFA.com about his once-in-a-lifetime screamer and the unusual origin of his nickname, Pote.

On the quarter-final meeting with Juventus

It's going to be an extremely difficult tie that will prove to be very demanding as it's over two legs and the first one is away from home. It's a completely different tie to the one against Arsenal, both for the general public and ourselves. We saw Arsenal as one of the favourites to win the Europa League, but we managed to eliminate them, so we'll have to wait and see and give it our best.

But now, it's really about focusing on the first leg in Turin, and then waiting for the second leg and trying our best to overcome those moments when things will get very difficult for us.

On his extraordinary round of 16 goal against Arsenal

In the dressing room, we commented on the fact that right from the start of the game, their goalkeeper would stand way off his line when he got on the ball. I never thought, "If I have the ball, I'll chip it over him because he's so far off his line." No, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Marcus [Edwards] was on my left and I saw him giving me an opening, but when I looked up, I saw something yellow, which was the goalkeeper. I saw that he was off his line, and I had a go.

My celebration? Well, it was weird because – and you can see it clearly in the footage – I didn't know what to do. I started running like a crazy man, trying to celebrate as much as I could, because I realised it was an excellent goal. I think it will always be the best goal of my career, considering the moment I scored it, the type of match it was, against that team in that stadium. It will live with me for the rest of my life, and that's it.

On how he learned that shooting technique from distance

[It's a skill] that I was born with, but it also has to do with training: I'd worked on it in training and kept improving. It's also to do with the sort of goals I've watched on YouTube and on TV – I love watching football and practically watch every match. I've always looked to get better, and this goal was also about the way I like to kick the ball: I don't tend to strike the ball hard with my instep but rather look to get the ball to swerve.

On how he got his nickname

This is a very old story and also very symbolic to me because it's about my granddad, who has sadly passed away. He and the goalkeeping coach at Vidago during my time at the club were always placing bets on me hitting the crossbar from the edge of the area. Every time I hit the crossbar, they would give me what I asked for. And since I always asked for a Kit Kat, because I loved eating Kit Kats, they would always call me Potinho (Little Jar) and, as I got older, Pote (Jar).