Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has declared that his team’s quest for the continental title — the UEFA Champions League — can be difficult, challenging, and bumpy, conditions he said they are very much aware of, news.ng reports.
Arteta made this known while addressing sports journalists at the pre-match press conference ahead of the return-leg match against Portuguese side Sporting CP on Wednesday.
Arteta noted that this will be the second time in the club’s history that Arsenal have reached the quarter-finals three years in a row in their 140-year history.
He said, “What we are trying to achieve is difficult, is challenging, is bumpy at times, and it’s supposed to be like this.”
“So, you have to confront it, and what I basically said, we are trying to do something in this competition that hasn’t been done in the history of the club in 140 years. It’s the second time in our history that we are three years in a row in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so we value a lot where we are.”
Recall that in the first leg last Tuesday, Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over the Portuguese side, with a last-minute goal scored by Kai Havertz, giving the Gunners a one-goal advantage.
As Arteta prepares his team for a defining moment at the Emirates Stadium, he said the team is in a strong position to achieve the unimaginable after 22 years of trying.
According to Arteta, “We have the opportunity tomorrow to go to the semi-finals. We are competing to win the Premier League, and we are in a really strong position after 22 years without doing it. So, we know the difficulty of that, but the beauty of it is that it’s difficult, that it’s challenging, and that’s why we are so willing to do it.”
Although the London club are not dismissing the threat of their opponents, he urged his players to shrug off fear and confront the difficulties ahead.
“No fear – that’s what I want to see on the players, on the people, on myself. That’s it. Go for it because the opportunity is unbelievable. We are in April; we have an incredible opportunity ahead of us. Let’s confront it, let’s go for it by really putting absolutely everything into it,” the Arsenal boss added.
Providing an update on the trio of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Jurrien Timber, Arteta said, “We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how a few of the boys are and make the right decision with them.”
