Mikel Arteta admits Champions League is firing Arsenal’s dreams

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to create a mythology around European nights at the Emirates and admits the pain of watching Champions League football from afar has served as motivation for him and his players.

Arsenal face Sporting on Thursday evening in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, which is delicately poised after the sides drew 2-2 in Lisbon last week. The Premier League leaders have generated a fearsome atmosphere for domestic home games and, with Arteta’s team chasing a first continental title since 1994, he is keen to build the kind of mystique from which Liverpool have long benefited against foreign opposition at Anfield.

“I think we have to build that back,” he said. “Obviously it’s been a long time since we had one of those special nights. [The fans] have to enjoy coming to European games and the team has to give them the right reasons to be part of that, and hopefully [against Sporting] we can start a nice journey.”

Heady European occasions have not been completely alien since the Emirates opened in 2006: the ground has hosted runs to the Champions League semi-finals in 2008-09 and the Europa League last four in 2018-19. But Arsenal have not played in the former for six years and, while they seem sure to return next season, Arteta has tried to use the angst involved in missing out as a driving force.

“Motivation,” he said when asked how it felt to watch Arsenal’s rivals compete at the top table. “It makes you feel that desire to get back with the top clubs in Europe and be challenging them, and see how good we are in relation to them. But we have a competition now that is not very far from the Champions League, with the teams that are left, and we experienced that last week.”

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