Arteta: 'It's not nice to be eliminated in the Europa League'
After losing to Sporting in the second leg of the 1/8 round of the Europa League on March 16, when asked if this defeat could be considered a "blessing", Arsenal had a lighter schedule for the rest of the season. , Arteta replied: "I can't see it that way. If you get to the quarterfinals and win, that's great. Otherwise, being eliminated could affect the plans for the domestic tournament."
The Spanish coach emphasized that Arsenal had shown a desire to win to want to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but were not in their best form. 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. Because the away goals rule no longer applies, the two teams have to settle the match on the 11m mark after a draw with a total score of 3-3. 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 that Leandro Trossard's shot to the post and Gabriel's two close-range headers were blocked on the line in extra time.
Arteta believes that Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba respectively leaving the field due to injury in the first 21 minutes affect 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.
