“I don’t want anyone talking about it.”

Mikel Arteta has taken a little bit of solace from Arsenal's first Champions League semi-final in 16 years. In Europe, it was a season of progress and not only did he reach this milestone - but also the third time in history - but he also saw 15 winners Real Madrid.

But that's not enough. Arsenal is about to enter its sixth season since the last time he lifted the silverware when the curtains landed on 2024/25. The Premier League runner-up hat-trick could be the last four European games this season, and it solidifies the feeling of being a bridesmaid forever and never being a bride.

Speech Sky movement Before going to the league champion Liverpool trip, Arteta acknowledged what would be a painful guard for the new champion, Gunners Boss said he would rather talk about why they missed the Champions League glory - and had no doubt about the need for a larger offensive threat.

"We want to win the Champions League, we believe we can," he said. "That's the Holy Spirit. If someone says 'Oh, but we have this,' I don't want anyone talking about it.

“Wednesday was one of the saddest but proudest nights I’ve ever had as an Arsenal manager. I want to talk about one person, why we didn’t win, and what we have to do now to win it. That’s about driving this club and everyone involved.

"A lot of things have to go. All we do is increase the probability and get us to the finals at a high level. But we missed so many opportunities. We can praise them, they have the best goalkeepers in the world, saving those moments.

"I understand the narrative (about Signature No. 9). When you create five expected goals, but score only one, it will happen. This is normal.

“We study things that have more data and resources together than many, but many have a good intuition about what they need – it’s a good thing to listen to these perspectives.

“We have a very clear vision for ownership, owners and board, the new sports director, and we are all aligned with what we want to do. We are very close to achieving that – that’s all.

“Sometimes it will be sunny and then the storm will come.

Arsenal’s injury list dwarfs their championship rivals, which Arteta quoted during a period when his team became particularly stretched.

In reflecting on their position in the Premier League and Champions League campaigns, he suggested that the soul search of his staff behind the scenes has questioned whether this is indeed something they can’t control – or other “probability” they can choose from next season through training changes or larger players.

"I think getting injured is a nightmare when it comes to choosing a lineup, alternatives, how we change the training courses - because we don't have a lot of players' time," he said.

“In this case, you want to really raise the bar, win and be better than the opposition. It’s very demanding and very tricky.

"We suffered three or four serious injuries and it was hard to prevent them all. Can we do something different? Luck may vary, training may vary, gym may vary, prevention may vary.

“We’re going to think about all of these things to get better, the reality is, we started the season at the beginning and the numbers were very, very low, and we took on the challenge because that’s what we could do at the time.”

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