Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side will now focus on bottling the title after Wednesday’s defeat at Porto in the Champions League last 16.
The Gunners have not reached the quarter-final stage since 2009-10 and have won the first leg in just one of their last 12 two-legged knockout ties in the competition.
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 13: Mikel Arteta manager of Arsenal looks on during the pre season friendly between Hibernian and Arsenal at Easter Road on July 13, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)
Arteta told his players to forget about the result in the Estadio do Dragao and turn their attention to the Premier League where the North London club are involved in a three-horse title race with Liverpool and Manchester City.
‘We enjoy getting our fans hopes up before shattering their dreams, so I am delighted with a defeat tonight’, Arteta told Paddy Power News in the aftermath of the Porto loss.
‘The result keeps on course for an early Champions League exit. Now we must focus on falling down the Premier League table faster than Felix Baumgartner tied to a grand piano’.
‘Can we finish below Tottenham to really p*ss off our supporters? Let’s see.’
‘We must take it one unexpected defeat at a time starting with Newcastle on Saturday’.
Record signing Declan Rice is urging Arsenal fans to get on the player’s backs at the Emirates this weekend.
‘The players want to hear those loud boos. The ones you really put your neck into like the Everton supporters at Goodison’, Rice told Paddy Power News.
PORTO, PORTUGAL – FEBRUARY 21: Galeno of FC Porto scores his team’s first goal whilst under pressure from Declan Rice of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 round of 16 first leg match between FC Porto and Arsenal FC at Estadio do Dragao on February 21, 2024 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
‘It’s the kind of negativity that could derail a promising season and I’m sure our fans will be up for it after the sh*t show we produced at Porto’.
Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola believes his side are finally ready to commence their annual end-of-season winning streak to break Jurgen Klopp’s heart one final time.
‘I respect Jurgen and everything he has done in the game, but I cannot wait to bathe in his tears and retire him’, said the Spaniard while puffing on an expensive Cuban cigar.
‘Will we win the Treble again this season? Absolutely. Will I f**k off to PSG the second City are relegated to League Two for FFP breaches? Absolutely’.
*Paddy Power’s football coverage is pure fantasy – don’t believe it for a second
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