Arsenal opened their first Champions League campaign since the Arsene Wenger era ended with a 4-0 victory over Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven, inspired by Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta had a “beautiful night” following Arsenal’s first Champions League match in seven years.
Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, and Martin Odegaard scored as Arsenal thrashed PSV Eindhoven. Arteta feels the win is ideal preparation for the North London derby on Sunday and demonstrates Arsenal’s readiness to compete on Europe’s greatest stage.
“It was a beautiful night after such a long time,” Arsenal manager Arteta stated. We wanted to give the best performance possible in order to win the game.
“I loved the atmosphere and the Champions League music.” Before it, everyone was getting a little emotional. Today, I believe we were great in both boxes. That, I believe, was the difference today.
“I was ecstatic about it. I tried not to exhibit my excitement since I wanted to maintain control. Last year, we gained the opportunity to compete in this tournament, which is where we need to be as a club. Now we must generate what we must produce in order to maintain this level.”
Arsenal, according to Arteta, can yet improve. “Especially from box to box, there are things we should have done much, much better,” he continued. That means you have to work every day.
“To try to improve, you have to be extremely analytical.” At the same time, kudos to the guys for playing the way they did at times and scoring four goals in the Champions League against a side that hadn’t lost all season. They deserve it.”
Odegaard also stated that Arsenal is ready to contend for the title, saying, “You could see the motivation and energy right from the start.” It means a lot to our club to be back in this competition.
“We’re in this competition to compete and fight to the end.” It’s a terrific start; we just need to keep working hard and see what happens.
“I was eager to get my name on the scoreboard!” I discovered a decent spot in the corner.”
Arsenal won’t have much time to celebrate their victory against PSV. The next game for Arteta’s club is a massive North London Derby at home against Spurs, with both teams tied on 13 points in the league
Another all-London match follows in the EFL Cup against Brentford, followed by a league trip to Bournemouth. Arsenal will then begin their European campaign on October 3rd, when they travel to Lens.
Lens came second in France last season and has struggled this season, but they escaped loss in their Champions League debut. They went down early in the game in Sevilla, but Angelo Fulgini’s equaliser guaranteed a share of the spoils.