Mikel Arteta has now sent a warning to his Arsenal players what they cannot afford to take their upcoming Champions League opponents Porto lightly.
Arsenal will travel to Portugal to take on Porto in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday.
The Gunners will be heavy favourites heading into this clash with the Portuguese giants. However, the north London outfit cannot afford to show any complacency if they are to return to the Emirates Stadium with a positive first leg result in tow.
Mikel Arteta may well take this opportunity to rotate his starting XI to some extent, but in general it is safe to assume that the Spanish coach will still pick a very strong team for this match.
Arsenal certainly ought to be taking the Champions League seriously this season. It has even been suggested that Arsenal stand a better chance of winning the Champions League this season than they do the Premier League.
Of course, the Gunners have never triumphed in Europe’s elite club competition before. The closest they came was in 2006, when Arsene Wenger’s side lost in the final against Barcelona. If Arteta were able to guide Arsenal to glory in the competition this season, then his legacy at the club would be immediately assured.
Mikel Arteta sends words of warning to Arsenal squad
There are good reasons for Arsenal to take the threat that Porto pose seriously. Arteta has now made it clear that his players must expect a difficult evening on Wednesday.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the match, as quoted by the club’s official website, the manager said, “obviously we want to dominate the game and play in the opponents’ half as much as possible. I think the threat, the purpose, the activity and the connections of the players at the moment is flowing and they really want it.”
“We have momentum now and we have to maintain it. Now we leave the Premier League and go to Porto, we know it’s going to be a really tough environment and game to play again, and we just need to prepare well to go again and be ourselves.”
Arsenal certainly do have momentum on their side at this time. The north London club have won their last five Premier League matches on the bounce, including a landmark victory over Liverpool, and 6-0 and 5-0 wins against West Ham United and Burnley, respectively, in their last two outings.
If they can replicate anything like those scoring feats in Portugal, then Arsenal can have this last 16 match-up all but wrapped up in the first leg. Arsenal should not be expecting an easy ride of things in Portugal, though, and first and foremost they will need to ensure that they are defensively solid.
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