Arteta sends clear message before Arsenal face Sporting
Arteta sends clear message before Arsenal face Sporting Mikel Arteta struck a defiant tone in Lisbon on Monday night, insisting Arsenal are “hungrier than ever” for their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP despite the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat. Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images Shortly after arriving in the Portuguese capital, the Arsenal manager faced the media before the first leg and made clear that the response to the weekend setback had already been addressed internally. “Have some perspective, how difficult it is, what we’ve done up to now,” he said .
“And then feel that pain, feel that emotion, and use it to be better and to improve. “So we were very clear in what happened, the reason why it happened, watching the game two times, we didn’t deserve to lose that match, but this is football and we get punished for things that are related to our identity, and that’s the things that we need to defend in the strongest possible way, because that’s the reason that we are where we are today. ” Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images Arteta said the result had done nothing to diminish the importance of Tuesday’s game.
“I think it doesn’t change it, I mean, regardless this is the quarter-finals of the Champions League, it doesn’t get much better than that, and we worked so hard throughout the season to be in this position in the competition. “We’re going to play an opponent here that we know about, their record and what they’ve done. So we are hungrier than ever, very excited and very, very motivated for tomorrow’s game.
” There was positive news on the fitness front, with Gabriel , Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all available . Asked directly about the trio, Arteta replied: “Yes [they are available]. ” There was less certainty around Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber .
“No, they’re having trouble, they’re not ready yet. Let’s see, hopefully they’re going to be ready for the weekend, if everything goes well, and that’s a massive boost because in recent days we’ve lost so many important players and that’s something that we need to change immediately. ” Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images The manager also pointed to the mood within the squad after the weekend defeat, saying he had seen the right reaction from his players.
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