Mikel Arteta Explains Why Arsenal May Struggle to Win Premier League and Champions League
- Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has opened up on why his team is struggling to win the Champions League
- The manager admitted that the same reason is partly responsible for why they have not won the Premier League
- Arteta disclosed this during his pre-match conference ahead of the quarter-final clash against Sporting Lisbon
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted the mental difficulty stopping his team from winning the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League.
Arsenal has never won the Champions League; their closest attempt to win it was in the 2005/06 season, but they lost the final to Barcelona.
Source: Getty Images
Their last Premier League title came in the 2003/04 season, going the entire league season undefeated, but has yet to win it again, having several near misses.
Arsenal, under Mikel Arteta, have finished as runners-up in three consecutive seasons, twice to Manchester City and to Liverpool in the 2024/25 season.
The Gunners were nine points ahead of Manchester City heading into matchweek 32, but a disappointing 2-1 loss to Bournemouth cut the gap to six points.
Arsenal have the chance to bounce back when they face Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta admits mental difficulty
Mikel Arteta has admitted that trying to break a year-long and historical drought in the Premier League and Champions League makes it difficult to win.
“What we are trying to achieve is difficult, is challenging, is bumpy at times, and it's supposed to be like this. So you have to confront it, and what I basically said, we are trying to do something in this competition that hasn't been done in the history of the club in 140 years,” he told Arsenal.com.
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“It's the second time in our history that we are three years in a row in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so we value a lot where we are. We have the opportunity tomorrow to go to the semi-finals.
Arteta added that the mental difficulty in the Champions League applies to the domestic league, but claimed his side is willing to do it.
“We are competing to win the Premier League, and we are in a really strong position after 22 years without doing it. So we know the difficulty of that, but the beauty of it is that it's difficult, that it's challenging, and that's why we are so willing to do it,” he added.
Source: Getty Images
The manager urged his players and fans to come together and produce a great showing at the Emirates Stadium to put behind the disappointment of losing to Bournemouth.
As noted by talkSPORT, if Arsenal progresses, they will face the winner of the other quarter-final between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, with Diego Simeone's side having a two-goal advantage.
Supercomputer predicts Premier League winner
Legit.ng previously reported that Opta's supercomputer predicted the Premier League winner after Arsenal lost to Bournemouth and Man City beat Chelsea.
Arsenal's chances of winning the title, which had initially risen to 97%, dropped sharply by 11% as Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the table.
Source: Legit.ng
