BRAVE ARTS
Mikel urges Gunners to play without fear to end Champions League hoodoo
MIKEL ARTETA is banking on the courage of his players and a raucous Emirates crowd to secure Arsenal their first Champions League quarterfinal spot for 14 years.
Arteta led the Gunners to FA Cup glory in 2020 and has hauled them back to the top of the Premier League this season. But he has yet to win a European knockout match at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will seek to avoid elimination at this stage of the Champions League for the eighth time in a row when they face Porto tonight. They reached their seventh and most recent quarter-final back in 2010 under Arsene Wenger.
“If you see the stats it is the reality,” said Arteta. “Let’s try to change it. How? By preparing in the best possible way.
“We need to make a lot of right decisions and then be brave. You cannot wait in these situations, you have to go and make things happen. That’s the approach.
“Knockout games are different. You saw it when we went out in the Europa League after going ahead and losing in the last minute, and against Sporting on penalties. The details and the margins are so small. That is a huge part of these knockout games.”
Porto prevented Arsenal registering a shot on target for the first time in two years in the first leg, which was won by Galeno’s late wonder strike. “We’re certainly going to have to tweak a few things to generate much more than we did,” added Arteta.
“It’s the level of the Champions League. You’re facing top teams. The fact there are two games plays on your mind but we have to be better tomorrow.”
A big difference from the away leg will be a fervent Emirates crowd seeking to witness history. And Arteta insisted the Arsenal fans can play a big part in the night’s drama.
“That’s the opportunity that we have tomorrow,” he said. “In front of our people, in our stadium for 96 minutes. Bring your energy, bring your noise and let’s do it together.
“I think the impact that they can have tomorrow is incredible. I don’t think they realise. We need that noise, we need them playing every ball with us and we need that emotional control as well to understand that the game will go through certain phases and we have to be really intelligent to get what we want.
“It’s a beautiful opportunity to live one of those nights. It’s been 14 years so everything that we put in there is going to be worth it. It makes me want to go there and play! It’s the feeling that we have that it’s a joy to be part of this club and to be part of these games. Tomorrow is going to be a great night.”
Arsenal went top this weekend after beating London rivals Brentford on Saturday evening before Liverpool and Manchester City drew the following day at Anfield.
After tonight, Arsenal will have 19 days before a trip to the Etihad Stadium for another huge fixture on Easter Sunday.
“It’s great to be top, that’s for sure,” Arteta added.
“It’s just amazing when you look at the level Manchester City and Liverpool have reached that we’re still there and we’re still top. So the ambition rises. We want to continue to be there. We have to go game by game.”
Qualifying tonight will see the Londoners through to the last eight in Europe and top dogs domestically.
“We have to make it happen tomorrow,” said Arteta.
“We’re going to have to be very good to achieve that.”