A delighted Mikel Arteta has expressed his pride and satisfaction after Arsenal reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010, ending a 14-year wait.
Leandro Trossard scored late in the first half against Porto to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead that ended 1-1 on aggregate. David Raya then saved a crucial spot kick from Galeno to secure a spot in the last eight of the competition for the first time in over a decade – ironically, against the same opponent at that time.
Arteta was thrilled to get around the Portuguese giants to produce yet another amazing night in north London to add to his expanding collection, but he made sure to give the credit to everyone he regularly worked with.
Arteta delighted after Arsenal break round of 16 hoodoo
Expressing his feelings after the game, he said: “I’m so happy, I’m so proud, especially for the club. It’s been 14 years not achieving the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and that’s a long time. It shows you how difficult it is to do it.”
“A big credit to the boys for what they have done today and to everybody that turned up in the stadium and from their homes, bringing that incredible energy into the stadium to help us win the game.”
“It was very difficult to get constant momentum in the game, with the way they play, credit to them. We knew that that was going to be the case, we had to be really patient and emotionally controlled, and wait for the moments. We were going to have moments and, in those moments, we had to put them away and we’ve done that.”
Arsenal won the penalty shootout, converting all four of their attempts while Porto managed only two goals, one of which struck the bar and the other of which Raya stopped to conclude the contest.
Arteta was thrilled that practice and preparation paid off once more, especially after witnessing the Gunners triumph in penalty shootout situations during the preseason and in the Community Shield.
“That’s one part of the preparation that we’ve done in the last few days. A big credit to the coaches, and the goalkeeping coach for all the way that they’ve done it, and at the end, we got rewarded.”
“What [David has] done through the game as well, how composed he looks, how secure – it’s the first big game that he’s played in his career in the Champions League. In the end, he looked that way and the way the other boys took the penalties, the body language, the composure, the quality, it was second to none.”
“We all deserve a few days off and recharge the batteries. 90 per cent of the squad will be on international duty afterwards and there we go, we go again.”
