Angry, angry, frustrated. Bad feeling in my stomach. Mikel Arteta felt emotional and the words when he tried to deal with it all. It was on Saturday night when his Arsenal side lost 2-1 to Bournemouth in the Premier League.
The manager’s idea was to use the pain and let it inspire one of the most famous results in club history when they headed to Paris Saint-Germain for the second leg of the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday. Finally, after the turbulent game, Arteta will have almost the same feeling.
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Arsenal are proud of their performance, especially in the opening 15 minutes of how they brought the fight to the last. But after another 2-1 loss, it was a 3-1 total export game, and Ateta's biggest gain was his stomach ailment.
Related: 'They shed tears': Arteta says Arsenal squad is emotional after the Champions League exit
It will be with him, and after his pain in the face of the media, it is overwhelmed, leading him to push a highly subjective and rather grumpy route. Arteta did congratulate PSG, which will face the international front in the second final, trying to finally break the code and win the first European Cup.
But by the end of Arteta, he had made it completely clear that he believed better teams had not won. Not only did Arsenal perform better on both legs, but he was the best team in the game. There is too much depth to injustice. Arteta even advised PSG staff, who were not named, to tell him what Arsenal deserved to move forward.
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Probably that queue doesn't include manager Luis Enrique, who sees Arteta as a Barcelona player's day. The point Luis Enrique wants to encounter is: "Sorry, Mikel, this is not true at all."
Why did Atata make a claim? Because that's how he sees and lives in the game, and when Arteta believes in something, he really believes in it. He will point to the one-on-one chance that Arsenal missed in the first leg, or rather, it was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. He will point out three fines for the PSG goalkeeper in return. Additionally, early in the second tie, Declan Rice missed, while Bukayo Saka's missed in the end.
Arsenal should score higher, which is a debate supported by the expected goal (XG) statistics, which makes them 5.11 on both legs; PSG on 3.08. Arsenal's XG in the second game was 3.14, the biggest match against PSG in the Champions League tie throughout the season.
However, given how Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos missed the massive opportunity in the closing phase of the first leg as alternatives, the XG calculations for PSG seem confusing. Désiré Doué earlier drew excellent savings from David Raya. Then, in the return, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia comes on, Barcola blows up another great opening, and Vitinha misses the fine.
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Did Arsenal make Arteta worse in the Princes game? On one level, yes, because it must aggravate his regrets. On the other hand, no, because the pain was sent with whimper, which was obviously his worst case.
Arteta announced criticism of his reaction, just like his comments on the Liverpool League champions, which is about how they scored fewer points than Arsenal had won the runner-up in the first two seasons. It is not under scrutiny, mainly because Liverpool has three games to play – the first game against Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday – and they can score 91 points. Last season, Arsenal had 89 players; 84 in 2022-23. It is best to wait until it is finished and dusted.
Just Arteta; passionate, blink. He puts so much energy and intensity into everything, and the other can make it overflow into the wrong appearance when it is bad. Arsenal is very good in Paris. Their spell also has the first leg. But do some people think PSG is not worth improving?
At the heart of everything is the suffering caused by the Champions League. Take PSG captain Marquinhos as an example, Arteta grew up as a role model for his upset players after Wednesday’s game. This is Marquinhos' 12th consecutive Champions League knockout match with PSG, and he has lacked every one of his last 11 games, usually in a painful way.
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In the 2013-14 year, Marquinhos played 3-2 overall in the club's first season, with Chelsea in the 85th minute of the second leg of the quarterfinal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A late strike by Cue Demba BA allowed Chelsea to pass the away goal. Fast forward to last season, PSG's second leg from Home at Borussia Dortmund, which was their tie that hits woodwork four times before going out. Marquinhos couldn't believe it. In between, he was in the infamous Reassemble In the last 16 games against Barcelona in 2016-17.
"Marquinhos had to fall down and back up," Arteta said. "So, look at that trajectory and the guy who is learning. You want to play the sport, compete and be very close to the trophy, you'd better be able to handle that. It's painful, but you have to deal with it."
There must be some ideas that the team must first lose the Champions League victory. Pain is a prerequisite. When PSG lost the game at Bayern Munich in Game 5 of the league stage this season (their third defeat), they faced a battle of qualification. How their fate changes.
"If you tell me three games before the end of the group stage, the goal is the final..." "Then, it's just eligible for the playoffs. But I feel and smell it between players, coaches, athletic consultants, fans, and everyone is so special.
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"Luis Enrique is the best manager in the world. When I first talked to him (before appointing him in the summer of 2023), he told me: 'You will see your team play unreasonable football and you will enjoy it.' He did."
Arsenal is preparing for a big summer when the board will support the board in search of the reinforcements he needs - i.e. defender, midfielder (Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad is a key target), a winger and striker. The squad is less than the highest level.
Until then, Arsenal must ensure they make the top five and make sure they return to the Champions League. After Liverpool, they played Newcastle at home on their last day, while Southampton left on their last day. This is not a deal. Arsenal needs to shake his head clearly and test the following point of view: There is more to learn in adversity.