Mikel Arteta's Arsenal take on Wolves looking to end five-year Champions League exile
Arsenal competed in the Champions League for 19 consecutive seasons from 1998. Mikel Arteta played in it for Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers and the Gunners and coached in it alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
But the fifth anniversary of Arsenal’s last game among the European elite, a 5-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich, falls next month.
In a week when Manchester United and Chelsea are in Champions League action, Arsenal are instead playing a rearranged Premier League match. If the mighty have fallen, they can at least be aspirational. Thursday’s meeting with Wolves is a contest between teams with legitimate hopes of playing on the major European stage.
WOLVES RATINGS: Jose Sa - 6: Felt he had been fouled before Gabriel’s goal but was more goalkeeping error than anything. Unconvincing on crosses. Reuters
For Arteta, exile has made him miss the Champions League. “I do a lot because as a football player I’ve experienced it and it’s one the best feelings you can have to be surrounded by opponents that are the best in the world,” he said. “It brings the club into a different dimension. For the club this is where we want to play and this has to be the aim to be every year playing among the best teams in the world.”
Arteta’s youthful side can look outsiders in the five-way fight for fourth.
“It will be a bit of a rollercoaster,” said the Spaniard, who accepts their journey is not complete. “I am happy with the direction we are taking,” he said. “I am not happy with where we are.”
1 Man City 26 20 3 3 63 17 63
2 Liverpool 25 17 6 2 64 20 57
3 Chelsea 25 14 8 3 49 18 50
4 Man Utd 26 13 7 6 44 34 46
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5 West Ham 26 12 6 8 45 34 42
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