In this video
- Rice was not available to train, and Arteta would not say why. He will see how the players are tomorrow morning, and one of Saka or Timber may be back.
- A third quarter-final in a row is a first for the club, he says, and something other clubs take for granted. The team has cleared hurdles that stood for 140 years.
“Pure fire, that's what I want to see on the players, on the people, on myself.”
- Asked about his emotions, Arteta says he is on fire. Fear was wondering where the club would go if this did not get done; now there is only purpose and conviction.
- Asked about a City fan drinking from an Arsenal bottle, Arteta says one fan does not move him when more than 60,000 are incredible at every home game.
- Saka has an Achilles issue. Arteta hopes it is a matter of days rather than weeks, depending on how he responds when the load goes up.
- What he loves is that there is no satisfaction: nobody in the room had even congratulated them on next season's Champions League. It is taken for granted, he says, but it is hard to do.
- Asked about Gyökeres saying the pitch felt dry, Arteta says he has learned some lessons from losing, and after a defeat you do not talk about anything else.
Mikel Arteta delivered a passionate message ahead of Arsenal vs Bayern Munich, insisting his team is doing something that has never been done in 140 years of the club’s history.
Speaking before this massive Champions League night, Mikel Arteta made it clear that Arsenal must play with “pure fire” as they chase a place in the semi-finals and continue fighting on multiple fronts.
With Arsenal vs Bayern now carrying enormous weight after the weekend setback, Mikel Arteta reminded everyone how difficult it is to reach this stage of the Champions League three years in a row and why this group deserves credit for putting Arsenal back among Europe’s elite.
As Arsenal vs Bayern approaches, the Arsenal manager also addressed team news around Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Jurrien Timber, while stressing that the mentality must be fearless. Mikel Arteta, Arsenal vs Bayern, and the Champions League are all at the centre of one of the biggest nights of Arsenal’s modern era.
