IT’S GUNNER BE EUROPE OR BUST

MIKEL ARTETA has told his Arsenal stars it is their “responsibility” to get into Europe, and insists failure to do so is “unacceptable”. Arteta fears that three years without Champions League football, plus the financial cost of Covid-19, will make getting back into the elite competition even harder next season. He said: “We have not been able to achieve the goals we wanted in the last three years. If we stand still the gap will become bigger and bigger. I haven’t come here to accept that. “The fact that we’ve not been in the Champions League has put an enormous amount of pressure on the club. “We know our responsibility and our aims, and how much that would relax the financial position we are in. The challenge for us is to improve the players we have and find ways to improve the squad in the right positions.

“That would give us the best chance to compete at that level. It’s getting higher and higher every year.

“We know the difficulty of the task, because there are a lot of clubs in that fight. We have to give it a go and believe we can do it.”

The Gunners’ trip to the Etihad tonight is followed by a tricky game at Brighton on Saturday, and two further away games at Southampton and Sheffield United – in the FA Cup – before the end of the month.

The club’s ability to keep stars like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (above), depend on getting back to the Champions League.

Arteta added: “We have to go game by game and get the results we need.”