'Exceptional' Arsenal out to dominate at Atletico: Arteta
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta backed his team despite recent criticism and said they would try to dominate Atletico Madrid (Javier SORIANO) Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta defended his "exceptional" side against criticism on Tuesday and backed them to prove their quality in the Champions League semi-final clash against Atletico Madrid. The Premier League leaders scraped a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday after a run of three matches without victory. Arsenal have struggled to play with fluidity in attack and Arteta agreed his team could improve in that regard, but said reaching the final four was evidence enough of their quality.
"We have to do better... (and) we want to improve in every department," Arteta told reporters on Tuesday. "But at the same time, to be where we are sitting here tonight, we have to be exceptional, one of the top four teams in Europe to be here.
So imagine how difficult that is. " Arteta said his team's morale was boosted by beating Newcastle to provisionally move ahead of Manchester City in the English title race and backed them to dominate against Diego Simeone's side in the Spanish capital. "After that win, a massive win for us against Newcastle, you could sense straight away the energy, the confidence coming into this game," continued Arteta.
"It's a massive privilege to be here again, two years in a row, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, representing our club and it's quite an opportunity. "We're going to grab it with both hands. You're going to see a team that wants to be dominant, that wants to win it, that wants to start to decide the tie tomorrow.
" Arsenal have never won the competition, finishing runners-up in 2006, and 20 years on are looking to return to the final. "These are the stages we want to be in, and we have earned it through incredible work, passion and quality in the last nine months," said Arteta. "Now is the moment to make a statement and show how good we are, how much we want it, and make it happen.