Arteta: 'Being eliminated in the Europa League is not a blessing'

After losing to Sporting in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 on March 16, when asked about this defeat as a "blessing" to help Arsenal have a lighter schedule for the rest, Arteta replied: "I don't. You can see it that way. If you go to the quarterfinals and win, that's great. Otherwise, being eliminated could affect the plan for the domestic tournament."

The Spanish coach emphasized that Arsenal showed a desire to win to want to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but were not at their best. He also called on his students to "hold their heads high" and look forward to the remaining 11 matches in the Premier League - where Arsenal are leading with 66 points, five points more than Man City.

Similarly, captain Martin Odegaard urged his teammates to quickly overcome the defeat to move towards the remaining "11 finals" in the Premier League. "We wanted to do something special in the Europa League and were very disappointed," added the Norwegian midfielder. "But we can't think too much about this defeat and have to move on. For now, Arsenal will focus on the Premier League."

At the Emirates Stadium yesterday, Arsenal opened the scoring thanks to Granit Xhaka's back-kick but let Sporting equalize with Pedro Goncalves' midfield strike. Although the away goals rule no longer applies, the two teams must settle the match on the 11m mark. Here, Gabriel Martinelli was the only one to miss, causing Arsenal to lose 3-5.

According to Arteta, Arsenal could not find the rhythm, lost the ball many times, were weak in duels and revealed many spaces for the visitors to exploit. The 40-year-old coach also regretted Leandro Trossard's shot to the post and Gabriel's two close-range headers from the left wing and corner respectively, but both were saved on the goal line, in extra time.

Arteta said that Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba respectively leaving the field due to injuries in the first 21 minutes affected Arsenal's plan and way of playing. The reluctant substitution in the defense made him unable to make changes in attack. Arteta said Tomiyasu was seriously injured, while Saliba "felt uncomfortable" and could not continue playing.

When asked if these injuries affect their ambition to win the Premier League, the Spanish coach said Arsenal must find an effective way to cope. But he is also confident when looking back at how the team has overcome difficulties when many pillars have problems from the beginning of the season, such as Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith Rowe taking four months off, Thomas Partey and Eddie Nketiah off for nearly two months.

Arteta also expects Martinelli to overcome the frustration of missing a penalty like teammate Bukayo Saka. The English midfielder was criticized and under pressure for unsuccessfully performing the 11m kick in the Euro 2021 final defeat to Italy, but immediately regained his form when he returned to Arsenal.