Mikel Arteta expresses his emotions in a very clear manner following an investigation into their elimination from European competition.
Mikel Arteta has expressed his emotions clearly after an investigation into their exit from Europe. Arsenal, managed by Arteta, currently lead the Premier League by five points over Manchester City, and they have the opportunity to increase their advantage by defeating Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Following their heartbreaking loss to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday evening, Arsenal supporters are likely still contemplating the outcome.
Despite having a 2-2 aggregate score after the initial match in Portugal, the Gunners took the lead through Granit Xhaka’s goal in the first half. However, a stunning long-range shot from Pedro Goncalves evened the score, leading to extra time and ultimately a penalty shootout at the Emirates Stadium.
Gabriel Martinelli’s missed penalty gave Nuno Santos the opportunity to secure Sporting’s place in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal will seek to recover from their European defeat when they face off against Crystal Palace, a Premier League rival, on Sunday afternoon at their home stadium.
Martin Odegaard delivered a frank evaluation of Arsenal’s performance, stating that they were not up to their expected level during the match against Sporting.
Speaking to BT Sport, the Gunners’ captain remarked, “I believe that, in certain phases of the game, we performed adequately, but for the majority of the game, we did not reach our potential.
We were not playing our finest football.” Odegaard acknowledged that the game was closely contested, and the outcome could have gone either way.
“They are a good team, we knew that, we were prepared. It was more about us today, we didn’t play the way we normally do with the same energy we normally do. Now we have to look forward. We have to remember it’s been a great season.
“It’s a big blow to go out of this competition. But now we look forward to the league, that’s all we can do now. We win and lose together. It doesn’t matter. When we’re winning everyone is happy, when we lose we have to pick up the spirit. We win and lose together.”
Although some observers suggest that Arsenal’s elimination from the Europa League might be a positive development, Mikel Arteta does not share this view. Instead, he recognizes that the team can now concentrate on the competition for the Premier League title, where they currently hold a five-point advantage over Manchester City.
“I cannot see it that way today,” said Arteta when that idea was put to him.
The Arsenal manager continued, “I don’t know, if you go through the competition and win it, it’s magnificent, if it’s not, then it affects your plans in the league, that’s a different story. We wanted to go through and we put everything into it.
“The effort the boys put when it wasn’t our best day, individually and collectively, the hunger and the desire they showed to win, the way they were tracking back was incredible. They really wanted it and today it didn’t happen.”
