Forget the past — we’re ready to win
Arteta confident of ending knockout nightmare
THE least said about Arsenal’s last Champions League knockout tie the better. Try as they might to eradicate that harrowing 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern munich in 2017 from their psyche, the embarrassing remnants of those two punishing 5-1 defeats linger.
In fact, the Gunners haven’t played in a Champions League quarter-final since 2010, a stat mikel Arteta would much rather forget, given he played for the club for five years from 2011.
It was Barcelona who knocked them out in 2010 and they repeated the trick in 2011 and 2016, with Lionel messi scoring nine times across those six games.
‘Someone called messi was an obstacle — and Bayern munich, who we faced twice,’ said Arteta in mitigation for those failures.
Finally, then, an opportunity to exorcise some demons. Arsenal face Porto here in Portugal tonight, heading into the first-leg last 16 tie as heavy favourites. And although the pain of the past may still weigh heavy, Arteta has ordered his players not to dwell on it.
‘They know that what happened in the past is irrelevant,’ said Arteta. ‘We have earned the right to be here. It’s been seven years since we’ve been at the top table for these kinds off matches and 14 years since we were able to go to the next stage.
‘That’s the challenge. We know what is ahead of us but we are very excited to face it and to go for it with full belief, that’s for sure.’
He’s right, of course. As much as he might not like to admit it, the Arsenal teams he played in were on the wane, part of a club in need of re- energising. The same can’t be said of the current outfit.
They are slugging it out with manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League and — barring an upset — on course for a place in the Champions League last eight.
Yet for all the optimism, Arteta, on the eve of one of the biggest nights of his managerial career, was at pains to warn his team of the pitfalls of complacency. he said: ‘ Individual quality is extremely important. It comes down to details and you need your players at your best when the occasion arises.
‘You know how tricky this is. You’ve been out of the competition for two or three months and you’re going to face a very different stage. All the teams are very good and you have little time to prepare the games. You have to be ready because the teams are very prepared and dangerous.’
Indeed, Porto are third in the Portuguese top flight, having lost just once in their previous eight league games. And in Brazil international evanilson they have a striker rapidly building a reputation as one of the best emerging marksmen in europe.
‘He is a player I’ve been with a few times — he is a player with great quality,’ said centre back Gabriel magalhaes.
All that said, it would be a shock if Arsenal suffered more knockout pain in Portugal tonight.