We take on Sporting in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg and Mikel Arteta has been facing the press before the clash in N5.
Mikel answered questions on team news, facing the Portuguese outfit and the remainder of the season.
Read his full press conference below:
on the latest team news:
We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how a few of the boys are and make the right decision with them.
on why Rice wasn’t seen in open training:
We have to wait and see how he is tomorrow, but he wasn’t available to train.
on if Saka or Timber could be back tomorrow:
Maybe one of them, let’s see.
on Saturday’s result against Bournemouth:
Obviously, it was a big disappointment and a hard one to take, especially losing at home when we had the opportunity to make that gap bigger and bring more certainty and get into this week in the best possible manner. What we are trying to achieve is difficult, challenging, 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. So that tells you the difficulty of that and what you guys are doing.
It’s the second time that we are three years in a row in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The second time in our history. For other clubs, that’s the daily meal. For us, no. So we value a lot where we are. We have the opportunity tomorrow to go to the semi-finals. 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.
Read more
Every word from Arteta’s pre-Sporting presser
on the mental challenge of getting over the line:
We have overcome a lot of hurdles. Hurdles that were here for 140 years. So the team is doing something incredible because it’s never been done before. So we are going to go to the next step for sure. We have the ambition more than anybody else and that’s where the beauty lies, on doing it, and we are there and we are very, very close.
on what he wants from the crowd tomorrow:
No fear. Pure fire. That’s it. Me, the first one. Pure fire. That’s what I want to see on the players, on the people, on myself. That’s it. Go for it because the opportunity is unbelievable. We are in April, we have an incredible opportunity ahead of us. Let’s confront it, let’s go for it by really putting absolutely everything into it.
on his overriding emotion at the moment:
Fire. I’m on fire. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m dreaming so much. I’ve done so much to be in this position because I know how this club was. I just see beauty, opportunity and I want to get it done for all these people that have been in this journey with us, and because they deserve it, because it’s been unbelievable. That’s what has driven me every single day. Zero fear. Fear I had when: ‘oh, if we don’t get this done, this club, I don’t know what is going to happen.’ That was fear. Now there’s no fear. It’s just purpose, fire, direction and conviction that we’re going to do it.
on if he sees that fire in the players:
Yes, big time.
on a Man City fan drinking out of an Arsenal bottle:
One fan, you mean? Yes. So we have one fan that says something else. Over 60,000 that are incredible every time at the Emirates, I don’t get moved by that.
on if he showed that to the players:
No, I show them all the players and people that love these players for what they are doing that is unprecedented in this club. That’s where I put them.
Read more
Arteta: “We want to get it done for everyone”
on if this is the biggest week in his time as our manager:
The biggest opportunity of six and a half years.
on the importance of composure as well as fire:
No, it was a comment made in certain contexts, talking about certain topics, but not something that I have to demand to anybody.
on players needing to deal with shifts in momentum:
Sometimes it’s to an action. I don’t know how many actions there were the other week when we broke the opposition press. In a lot of situations, we have the advantage of so much space to run, and we give the ball away. It turns out to be a counter-attack. These are the moments that shift momentum and shifts the emotional state of the game as well for both teams. And that’s what we have to do better as well.
on if Rice had an awkward landing in the second half against Bournemouth:
Well, he’s played a lot of games and that’s part of the issue. But he’s going to try to do everything that he possibly can to be with us tomorrow, that’s for sure.
on why there’s a suggestion we are closed off about team news:
I don’t see that on the supporters at all, and I know a lot of them, so I don’t have that feeling. Because from 60,000, but the majority of that, they are so happy to see the team, regardless of who plays, because no manager, I think, if you give me a press conference when they give the line-up, then we talk about different things, but I don’t think it’s the case.
on if Saka’s issue is from the Carabao Cup final:
It was something that he was carrying for a while.
on what the injury is:
It was an Achilles issue.
on if there’s been any setback on his recovery:
No. It is his progression, but hopefully it’s going to be a matter of days and not weeks. But he has to see when he’s loading more, how he responds to that kind of progression.
on needing players to make themselves available and play through pain:
They are trying to do that, and we know how important availability is in this crucial period of the season. Obviously, we’ve been missing four or five starters now for weeks, which has an impact. So that’s why we need them back, that’s for sure.
on how much our recent struggles are down to the tactical approach versus player performance:
I’m not going to get into that. I understand the question and it’s good. But there is always a balance between the two, and there is no plan without execution. Again, it’s about the decision that is made in the moment and how good that execution is in relation to the decision. Otherwise, especially when you are attacking, there is very little end product.
on if making every game a cup final adds to the tension:
Well, I never mentioned a cup final, but I think the importance of every game, we know what it is. We’ve done the same in September, October, November, in the Champions League last year, and I think the outcome of what you’re trying to achieve at the end or the success or failure of your intention, is based on the result. You have to accept that, because this is football.
on if we’re tempted to look back at games we’ve done well in to remind players how good they can be:
Yes, and I try to do that as much as possible, especially in moments when they need to see that because the first reaction is to look at the negative things that we’ve done. Again, we need to reinforce to them that they’ve done so well for nine months to be in this position.
on the challenge of keeping the focus on just Sporting with two huge games this week:
The first one is that big and that important to get into the semi-finals of the Champions League again, that there is no time to find space for the weekend, that’s for sure.
Read more
Everything you need to know about Sporting CP
on why we’ve struggled in April in recent seasons:
You have to win the games with sun or no sun – September was very sunny as well!
on reminding the players what we’ve achieved and how far we’ve come:
What I love as well about where we are is that there is no satisfaction about it, and you haven’t asked me any questions or congratulations about getting in the Champions League for next year. Now is when we take it for granted, I assume in 20 years at this club we’ve been taking for granted this (achievement), fighting for titles in April, that’s the feeling – and that’s okay, but it’s difficult to do it, and I do value a lot what the players are doing – that’s for sure.
on Gyokeres saying we had a dry pitch on Saturday:
After losing a match, I learned some lessons, and after losing a match, I don’t talk about anything else because it comes back.
on if the reaction to the weekend has been unfair:
I love the dissatisfaction of that, that we want much more, this is why we’re here. But as well, we need certain perspectives, especially the players need the perspective with where they are in the Champions League, and in the Premier League on April 14. That’s a reality, and we need to embrace that, and it’s supposed to be like this because the higher you are, the bumpier it gets, and it’s more demanding, and the line is thinner between being the best and the worst, is really, really thin, and you have to cope with that.
on if there’s a motivation to prove doubters wrong:
The motivation is to give to the people with us what they deserve and what they’re looking for. Not for the rest – the energy is on these people.
on what surprised him about our first leg at Sporting:
I’m not surprised (about Sporting), there is an understanding of the quality they have and the different ways they have to hurt you. They’re a really, really good side and they proved that in the first leg, and that’s why we know that tomorrow’s going to be a very tough match.
on what kind of approach we expect from Sporting tomorrow, with Morten Hjulmand potentially in the XI:
The approach that they have, I think, they’re always trying to be a team that is very dominant, through the press, through the ball. The longer that the game goes, in relation to the context of the game, they can approach and answer that like they’ve done in the league. Regarding the score, they will modify that, we are ready for that as well, and we’ll play with whatever is necessary to win the game.
Read more
How to watch Arsenal v Sporting CP live on TV
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
