Arteta reveals emotional moment during debut Champions League match as Arsenal boss

Mikel Arteta has admitted hearing the Champions League anthem following a lengthy absence left him emotional at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

Arsenal marked their first group stage appearance in Europe’s premier competition since 2016 with a 4-0 victory over PSV.

Having experienced many Champions League nights as a player with the Gunners, Arteta finally took charge of his first match in the tournament as Arsenal boss.

And it was a match to savour, with Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all scoring before half-time, with skipper Martin Odegaard adding another in the 70th minute.

And Arteta has revealed the special occasion and the atmosphere created by fans had a massive impact on him.

The 41-year-old told Arsenal’s website: “I’m really happy. It was really emotional just listening to the music and the atmosphere that we had in the stadium, it was great.

“It is a good memory for the first game to win 4-0 and the way we played, I’m really happy.

“I could sense over the past 48 hours and the way [the players] were, the level of attention that they wanted, how they were competing like they were up for the fight.

“But then you have to do it against a really good side that hasn’t lost a single game, and today we won because we were really efficient in both boxes.

“We had some transition moments to defend after their reply and we did that really, really well and we were really clinical.

2

“We were really composed on the ball to pick the right player, the right pass, the right space and that was the difference in the game.”

Arteta then stated that the victory has left his squad raring to go for Sunday’s north London derby against rivals Tottenham.

Pressed on whether their win over PSV was a statement performance, he remarked: “It is more for us that we can perform at this level and it is nothing different to what we experience every single week in the Premier League.

“It is the best preparation for us and shows that a lot of players that play international level are used to these competitions as well.

“Emotionally, winning is the best, the best, the best.

“It is the best thing you can do, and I now have 24 players desperate to play on Sunday.”

talkSPORT football match centre

Keep up-to-date with all the latest Arsenal fixtures and results and live Premier League standings in our new match centre.