Mikel Arteta has made it clear that, despite Arsenal only needing a point to secure a place in the Champions League Round of 16, the team is in Girona with the sole objective of securing a victory.
The squad has arrived in northeast Spain for Arsenal’s final game of the league phase, fully aware that a draw will mathematically secure a pass to skip next month’s play-off round. However, they face a Girona side that, despite narrow one-goal defeats to Liverpool, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain this season, is already eliminated from the competition.
According to Opta’s supercomputer, Arsenal’s chances of falling out of the top eight are as low as 0.1%. However, with the benefits of securing a better seeding and avoiding the top-performing teams in the league phase until the later stages of the knockout rounds, Mikel Arteta has hinted at fielding a strong starting XI, fully prepared to secure a sixth victory from eight European matches this season.
“We’re here to win the game,” he stated in his pre-match press conference. “In order to do that, we’re going to have to be better than them. They’re a really good side, if you look at the games they’ve played in the Champions League against top opposition, they’ve made life very difficult for them.”
“Tomorrow it will be a very strong team in order to achieve what we want to do because mathematically the qualifying at the moment is uncertain.”
A victory at the Estadio Montilivi on Wednesday night would mark Arsenal’s fourth consecutive win in the competition, a milestone last achieved in 2005. It would also see the team secure back-to-back away victories in the Champions League for the first time since 2016.
These statistics underscore just how impressive Arsenal has been in Europe this season. Mikel Arteta believes that the team’s year of experience in the competition is paying off, especially after such a lengthy absence from the Champions League.
Reflecting on last season’s away performances compared to this season’s, Arteta said: “We’re more consistent and I think we’ve been better at understanding that it’s extremely difficult to win and overplay opposition in the Champions League. Tomorrow, we’re going to face a very good opposition and we’re going to have to be very good to beat them.”
“Every game, every scenario, every context is going to be different. It’s coming here when we need something from the game, and we’re here to win. From the first minute, the attitude and determination will be to go for it again and hopefully get the game won.”
