Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says last season’s painful Champions League semi-final exit will serve as fuel for the new campaign as the Gunners prepare to launch another bid for European glory.
Arteta’s side were knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain, ending hopes of lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time in the club’s history. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s away tie at Athletic Bilbao, Arteta reflected on the lessons learned.
“You take a lot of learnings from it,” he told reporters. “It’s painful also because of the expectation that we created and the real conviction that we had within the club, the team, that we could go all the way.
“We showed a very high level of consistency and quality throughout the competition and learned from it and tried to be better.”
Arsenal’s best ever finish in the tournament remains their 2006 final loss to Barcelona. Arteta believes now is the time to change that narrative.
“That tells you with our long history how difficult it is because we haven’t won it yet. And that’s the opportunity. That’s how I see it,” he said.
“The big clubs, I mean, they try seven, eight, nine times, they win two. So in this competition, it’s going to be one, and you fail much more than you succeed. That’s the history of our club. And that’s what we want to change.”
Arsenal will be without several key players for the trip to Spain. Martin Odegaard has not travelled after picking up a shoulder injury in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. He joins Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz on the sidelines.
Despite the injury setbacks, Arteta is confident in the depth of his squad, strengthened over the summer with the arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke.
“Excited to start again from scratch in a beautiful place in a stadium that is going to generate something special,” Arteta added.
“The margins in this competition are super small and you have to be at your very best from day one to give yourself the best possible chance.”
