Ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg against PSG, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta spoke to the press following his side’s Premier League defeat by Bournemouth. With just a few days to go before the decisive clash at the Parc des Princes, the Spanish coach stressed the importance of turning the frustration, anger and rage born of this setback into positive energy in a bid to turn things around in Paris and clinch a place in the final.
Arteta “We just created anger, rage, frustration and negative feelings”.
“We wanted to create good vibes by putting the full team in. A positive result would have created the foundations for what we want to see on Wednesday. In the end we just created anger, rage, frustration and negative feelings. We’ve got to make sure we use all that on Wednesday night to play a huge game in Paris to win and get to the final.
What PSG did in Strasbourg doesn’t concern us, they won the French championship, Luis Enrique has the luxury of being able to field a reshuffled eleven, not us because we still have plenty to play for in the Premier League. But we’ve got four days to recover and we’ll be in top form for the Champions League match”, comments relayed by Foot Mercato.
PSG could manage, Arsenal could not, but this weekend was important in the race for the Champions League. Even if Arteta points to frustration, we mustn’t forget that the Premier League and the Champions League are two different competitions.
No doubt Arteta will find the words to restore his players’ confidence. That said, the Gunners’ situation is not ideal after the first-leg defeat to the Parisian club.
There can’t be too much pressure to perform, but above all, we’re coming up to a point in the season when the physical side of the game is starting to weaken, and the players aren’t always able to reveal their full potential. Above all, we need to stay focused for the Parisians. Arsenal are still a great team.
