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Mikel Arteta has told the Arsenal support to “bring your boots” and a can-do attitude for the Champions League semi-final first-leg at home against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, as he radiated conviction that the club was primed to make history.
The manager described the game as the biggest of his career and one of the most significant hosted by the Emirates Stadium, which opened for the 2006-07 season. It is Arsenal’s third appearance in the last four of Europe’s elite competition, after the victory against Villarreal in 2005-06 and the defeat by Manchester United in 2008-09.
Arsenal were beaten by Barcelona in the 2005-06 final and Arteta wants to harness the collective yearning for a first Champions League triumph, not to mention the connection he has built between the team and the fans. It underpinned the electric atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium for the 3-0 quarter-final first-leg win against Real Madrid, which set Arsenal up to progress 5-1 on aggregate.
“I tell them [the supporters], and I’m not exaggerating here: ‘Guys, bring your boots, bring your shorts, bring your T-shirts and let’s play every ball together,’” Arteta said. “We want to do something special. The place has to be something special, something that we haven’t seen. I really hope that everybody that comes to the Emirates and is watching and following us, brings that energy with them.
“You feel it [the lack of a Champions League title]. We have, fortunately, a lot of people that have worked in the club for many, many years and they’ve never been in this position [to win it]. So that tells you how unique and beautiful it is. We need to earn the right to be in that final and everything is going to start tomorrow. So yeah, we are making history. It’s a beautiful story right now but we want much more. We have to take the opportunity and make it happen.”
Arteta refused to dwell on any negativity, unlike his PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, who complained about his team’s treatment by the French media. PSG, who are in the Champions League semi-finals for a fourth time in six seasons, are also chasing a first triumph in the competition.
Arteta is emboldened not only by how his team took Madrid apart but PSG’s struggles at Aston Villa in the quarter-final, second-leg when they lost 3-2 and only just progressed 5-4 on aggregate. Then, there was the manner of Arsenal’s 2-0 home win against PSG in the second round of ties in this season’s league phase. That night, it was Arsenal’s greater physicality, as much as anything else, that stood out.
“You learn a lot from every game,” Arteta said. “Going to the Bernabéu is probably the biggest test that you can have as a European team. That brings confidence and experience to a team that most of us … we never had before.
“I take a lot of things from the game we played here [against PSG]. It was very important for us because at the time, they were one of the best teams in Europe. To put yourself into that category, to that level and say: ‘Actually, we can compete and we can beat them.’ It was good preparation for what is coming right now.
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“When you get to this stage, the difference between the two teams is not big. It’s really the mindset, the attitude and how we’re going to play the game. It’s just to visualise it, to be convinced, to go on that pitch thinking we’re going to beat them. If we are able to generate that energy, we’re going to be much closer to winning the game. That’s what I feel again in the team.”
Arteta reported that Ben White and Mikel Merino had trained and were available for selection. With Thomas Partey suspended, Merino may be needed in midfield.
