Arteta on Arsenal - PSG champions league first leg
28/04/2025
uefa champions league
28/04/2025
uefa champions league
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Thanks for coming. If you have a question, we have mics in the room, so if you raise your hand and we'll come to you.
00:05We'll kick off with John Cross in the front.
00:08Hello, Mikel. I was just going to ask you about the opportunities for my night. What an opportunity.
00:13I mean, it's, you know, Gary Martinelli has said it's the biggest game of his life.
00:16Does it feel the same for you? What can the atmosphere bring? What an opportunity.
00:20It does, and you sense it. You sense the energy, the enthusiasm that it's something unique.
00:25Probably one of the biggest games that the Emirates have seen since we built it.
00:30And, yeah, full of energy, enthusiasm, and can't wait to play the game tomorrow.
00:35It's incredible to think that Arsenal never won this trophy, bearing in mind the success that they've had.
00:39So what would that mean to you? And also, bearing in mind the season that you've had, just what would it mean to win the European Cup?
00:46Yeah, especially with the circumstances that we had this season and how we have overcome a lot of issues and challenges
00:54and the fact that the team is here as one of the four best teams in Europe, it tells about the mindset, the spirit, and how much we really want it.
01:05So, yeah, we are making history. It's a beautiful story right now, but we want much more.
01:11Hi, Mikel. We saw how the team invested so much emotional energy and the crowd as well into that Real Madrid game and the atmosphere here.
01:21Is it a case of just doing that again? I mean, is it that simple?
01:24More. To more and more, I told them, and I'm not exaggerating when I said,
01:27guys, bring your boots, bring your shorts, bring your t-shirts, and let's play every ball together.
01:34You know, you want to do something special, that place has to be something special, something that we haven't seen.
01:40And I really hope that everybody that comes tomorrow to the Emirates and everybody who's watching and following us,
01:46it brings that energy with them.
01:48Dave Guardian?
01:49Do you feel the weight of history? Arsenal obviously never won this tournament, and it's only the third semifinal.
01:55Is that sort of a big part of this?
01:58You feel it, especially because we have, fortunately, a lot of people that have worked at the club for many, many, many years,
02:05and they've never been in this position.
02:07You know, so that tells you how unique and beautiful it is.
02:11And, yeah, it's the nicest competition for any European club.
02:14We've never done it, so we need to earn the right to win that final, and everything is going to start tomorrow.
02:20And in terms of PSG, they've been absolutely excellent all season,
02:23but certainly since the turn of the year.
02:27And yet Villa showed that maybe they can be vulnerable.
02:31I mean, do you take anything from what Villa did in that second leg?
02:34Yeah, obviously, you learn a lot from every game.
02:36It's different.
02:37I think the context that results from both games are very, very different.
02:41The same with Liverpool.
02:42But, yeah, what I take as well, a lot of things from the game that we played here.
02:46You know, and we understand how strong they are as a team, the individuals that they have.
02:50But we have the same.
02:51So, when you get to this stage, I think the margins and the difference between the two teams is not big.
02:59And it's really, it's the mindset, it's the attitude, and how we're going to play the game tomorrow.
03:03Alex from TNT.
03:05Mikel, for a lot of the Arsenal fans, the atmosphere in the Emirates for the Real Madrid game
03:10was probably the greatest they felt at the Emirates, let alone maybe ever, at the club.
03:15Would you say the connection between the team and the fans is the strongest it's ever been
03:21since you were here as a player and your five years as manager?
03:25Yes.
03:26I think since I experienced and I was part of this as a player, 100%,
03:32and hopefully it will be much better because it's very improbable still.
03:37And, yeah, building your own story and having the experiences that we have lately together,
03:42I think it's going to make that relationship and that connection even stronger.
03:46And tomorrow we have a massive opportunity as well, as a club, as supporters,
03:50to demonstrate who we are and how far we still want to get together.
03:56Mikel, in that second half at Villa Park, Luis Enrique said that no other team had dominated PSG
04:08like they did, but they had to take risks at the time.
04:13So, tell us a little bit about how you are brave against this team.
04:19Well, I think you've seen it firsthand, the way we approach the game against Real Madrid,
04:23the way we approach the game when we played them before, the way we approach every week.
04:27That's not going to change.
04:28That's who we are.
04:29It's our biggest strength.
04:31And the good thing as well about us is that we are able to adapt to very different contexts.
04:36And we have shown that again this season because sometimes you don't want to,
04:41but the teams are able to take you to a different game and feeling comfortable playing that game
04:47and overcoming that game to put yourself in a position that you play more the game that you want
04:52is a big strength.
04:54And I think this season, again, we have demonstrated that we have the capacity to do that.
04:58And obviously, second leg, you have to go to the Parc des Princes, which is a daunting prospect.
05:02However, what do you take from having gone to the Bernabeu and finished the job?
05:08Well, I think going to the Bernabeu, I think it's probably the biggest test that you can have as a European team
05:13because of the history, because of the very recent history and a lot of the things that happened there.
05:19And I think we managed that game really, really well.
05:22And I think that brings confidence and experience to a team that most of us, we never had before.
05:30Ian from Talksport.
05:31Hi, Mikael, how are you?
05:33I'm good, thank you.
05:33Declan Rice, Man of the Match in both games against Real Madrid.
05:37Has £100 million ever been spent more wisely on a player than you spent on him?
05:43Hopefully, when we win a lot of trophies together, we can justify that to ownership and everybody's happy.
05:50You know, we are extremely happy to have him.
05:52I think, again, he's made a few strides forwards.
05:56To play with that presence, that determination and actually to influence the game the way he did in both legs,
06:03it's really impressive and we knew that.
06:05I think the individuals have to step in in these moments.
06:08It's a game for players and a game for big players to stand out and make the difference in the game.
06:13And the greatest modern-day manager before you, of course, to manage this club, Arsene Wenger,
06:18had one shot at winning this trophy against Barcelona in the final.
06:23And what would it mean to you to have a shot at bringing home a trophy this club's never brought home before?
06:29Incredible opportunity.
06:30I mean, we are here to make people happy, to create history and we are very close.
06:38And now we have to take the opportunity and make it happen.
06:44Mikel, considering the journey that you've been on with this club,
06:46and there has been some really dark days at times,
06:49how much pride do you take in the fact you're going to lead Arsenal into a Champions League semi-final?
06:54And did you always believe you could take Arsenal to this stage?
06:57I hope and I dreamt and I put all my work, efforts and the support of a lot of people around the club to achieve it.
07:07But those days were necessary.
07:09I mean, to a journey, to have sense and to achieve what you want to do.
07:13You have to learn and you have to go through certain periods to enjoy certain others.
07:18And this is where we are right now.
07:20And now we have to make the next step.
07:23I know Thomas Partey tomorrow, how much of a boost was it to have Mikel Moreno back in training?
07:28And can you provide an update when it comes to Calafuri as well?
07:32And Ben White back in training today as well.
07:33Yeah, Mikel and Ben, obviously we know that we lost Thomas, unfortunately, very late in the game against Real Madrid.
07:40And Ben and Mikel, they were able to train.
07:43Let's see if they were able to start tomorrow and Ricky is still not fit.
07:48Hi Mikel.
07:49I think before the Real Madrid game, you spoke about it being about more than belief.
07:53But a mindset.
07:54And I was just wondering, can you explain what that mindset looks like?
07:58Is it something that's had to kind of shift as time has kind of evolved?
08:04It's just to visualize it, to be convinced, to go on that piece thinking, yeah, we're going to beat them.
08:09We're going to be better than them tomorrow.
08:11And we're going to do everything that we understand is the right things to end the right to win the game.
08:16And go there with that conviction and feel the conviction around it.
08:20I think it's key.
08:21If we are able to generate that energy, we're going to be much closer to winning the game.
08:25And that's what I feel, again, in the team.
08:27That we are really looking forward to playing the games tomorrow.
08:30And we're going to give our very best to try to win the game.
08:33And that feeling that you've described, is it something that you can kind of notice changing in real time?
08:39Or is it only when you look back?
08:41I think probably you feel it because it's been so much work done before.
08:46And because the players are really resonating with what we are doing.
08:49And they feel, yeah, we can face these guys and we can be better than them.
08:53And that's the feeling we had against Madrid or the previous round or through the group stages.
08:58And that's how we feel today.
08:59I look at them in the eyes and they can't wait to play tomorrow.
09:03That's the feeling.
09:04James, ESPN.
09:05Hi, Mikel.
09:06You talk about sensing that weight of history.
09:10How do you and the players channel that sort of most positively into the game tomorrow?
09:16Well, it's just an opportunity.
09:18I mean, we have to have the feeling that we have to hold them back tomorrow to go on that pitch and express themselves.
09:23It's a moment now to say, okay, this is who we are.
09:25This is who we are as a team.
09:26This is who I am as an individual.
09:28And I'm going to put my very best in there to make it happen.
09:31And play with that mindset.
09:33And leave yourself.
09:35Go, they know everything.
09:36Now it's about, okay, where are the limits?
09:38And how far I'm able and how far I want to go.
09:43That's it.
09:44And we've talked about the game in October here.
09:46I mean, obviously, there's a lot happened since then.
09:48Do you think that game is relevant to tomorrow night?
09:51I think we learn from each other, you know.
09:53And obviously, it was very important for us because at the time as well, they were one of the best teams in Europe.
09:59And they were performing consistently.
10:01They have an excellent coach.
10:02They've been together now for a while.
10:04And to put yourself into that category to that level and say, actually, we can compete and we can beat them.
10:09I think it was a good preparation, I went for what is coming right now.
10:13Jordan, sorry.
10:14Jordan?
10:15Hi, Michael.
10:16I think also we've seen it with the English national team and their bid to go and end their run of not winning a trophy.
10:21And they talk about the weight of the badge and not being able to shrug that off and forget about the past.
10:26How do you do that?
10:28How do you shrug off that weight and let players go and play free win?
10:32Live the now.
10:33The present is where we are.
10:35We are so fortunate.
10:36We put so much into it to be in the position that we are.
10:39We earn it with our work, with our enthusiasm because we face a lot of challenges and we manage to compete at the highest level for 10 months.
10:48So we earn it now.
10:50Be present and live the moment.
10:52It's a beautiful moment.
10:53Let's live it and let's enjoy it.
10:54So in this moment, do you avoid talking about the past and what's happened in the past and only today?
11:00For me, it's irrelevant.
11:01You know, it's part of our history.
11:03We can learn things from that.
11:05But the past is the very far past or very short past as well.
11:08And I'm very interested with the short past to understand if that helped the team to win the position that is today to use a lot of things to be better tomorrow and win again.
11:20Hi, Michael.
11:21I heard the term one club mentioned before when talking about the men's and the women's team at Arsenal.
11:27There's a chance that Arsenal could have two teams in a Champions League final this season across those two competitions.
11:33Did you take inspiration from yesterday?
11:35Well, women's team has already earned that and it's been an inspiration.
11:38It's been incredible what they've done to achieve it in the manner that they've done it.
11:43So, again, for us, it's just they're showing the road, the pathway, how we can do it and how inspiring it is for us because we want to be there as well.
11:53James, CBS.
11:54Michael, just leaping back to that game in October, what were the qualities you saw on the pitch that night that you're going to be telling your team to replicate tomorrow night?
12:01I love the presence straight away, how we went out there, our body language, the intensity, how aggressive we were.
12:08We play with real belief and determination and when you're facing big opponents, immediately you need to put the game into that context.
12:16Hi, Mikel. You seem to be radiating an excitement ahead of tomorrow night's game, which is great to see.
12:22How do you protect against that turning into nerves, though, in terms of some of the playing stuff?
12:27How do you stop that excitement turning into nerves with the occasion right on the horizon?
12:32Preparation. I think prepare as well as you possibly can.
12:37Make sure that your energy is balanced.
12:40Make sure that your understanding of what you have to do is already done.
12:44It's time to express yourself out there and enjoy being a footballer and playing in one of the best stages that you can play in world football.
12:52Isan Dalimau.
12:53Hi, Mikel.
12:54With Real Madrid, they obviously caught a lot of attention because of the star players in their team, the fact that they've won the Champions League 15 times.
13:01In some ways, with PSG, does there need to be a bit of...
13:05You need to be careful in some ways because of, despite obviously not having that prestige, as Real Madrid did, they're still a good team.
13:10And obviously, as a team, they're more together rather than just individual parts, maybe.
13:15Yeah, very, very different opposition.
13:17I think it's a team that is very well worked with a lot of detail, with a lot of attention to a lot of things.
13:25And understanding why certain things happen in the game.
13:28And then, yeah, of course, they have the individual talent that we have.
13:31If not, we wouldn't be here.
13:33Okay, we've got so many hands up, I don't think we're going to get through everyone.
13:35So, we'll take two more from UK and then we'll go into a Spanish question and then one question in French, if that's okay.
13:40So, we'll go with Simon from UK.
13:41Mikel, just since that Real Madrid game, for a lot of people, you've become the favourites to go all the way in the competition.
13:48I just wonder how that tag sits with you and the players.
13:51I think we generated belief that we did it against, again, probably the best opposition that you can face in the competition.
14:02And that has generated, I think, enthusiasm and possibilities probably that nobody expected, which is very good.
14:09Phil, Pierre.
14:10I was going to ask a similar thing.
14:12So, just on that same theme, do you think that Arsenal should be considered the favourites to win the Champions League this year?
14:17Well, I think when you look at the history, we go back to the history now because we've never done it.
14:22So, there is so much to do.
14:25Hopefully, if somebody believes we can do it, it's because of the performances and what is the team transmitting against the big opposition.
14:32If that's the case, okay.
14:35Are there a question behind the gentleman here?
14:37C'est bon?
14:38In French, but response in English, yeah.
14:40Okay.
14:41Bonsoir, Mickaël.
14:41Hi, Mickaël.
14:43I work for the Bison.
14:44We often speak about strategy, we speak about lots of differences, but at the end of the day, when we get to the semi-final of the Champions League,
14:51is it not the team that are going to play with their hearts and be the most intense that are going to qualify for the final?
14:57Well, there are all factors.
14:57That's one, certainly.
14:58The intensity and understanding of managing emotional moments is very important, but at the end, you have to play your game.
15:05You have to deliver the quality in key moments to end the right to win a football match against a really good opposition.
15:12Okay.
15:12Hello, Mickaël.
15:14I know you love the present, but you played in Paris when you were very young.
15:19Which are your remains about that year with Boch and Gabi?
15:22Hainz, just for a curious thing.
15:24I know you are focused on this game, but are you aware of the chaos blackout we have in Spain?
15:31Well, yeah.
15:31One of the best memories I have as a football player, obviously, was my debut, and it was for PSG.
15:37I'm forever grateful for the opportunity and the experience that I had, which was incredible.
15:43They just showed me a picture now with some ex-players that I shared.
15:46One of them was Ronaldinho as well.
15:48And it's a photo that I cannot take over my head.
15:51And, yeah, again, very grateful.
15:54And regarding what happened in our country, very disappointed, very sad.
15:58And hopefully we can resolve that issue immediately.
16:02Okay, everyone.
16:03Thanks very much.
16:03See you tomorrow night.
16:21Bye-bye.
16:26We'll see you tomorrow night.
16:30Bye-bye.
16:32Bye-bye.
16:33Bye-bye.
16:33Bye-bye.
16:33Bye-bye.
16:33Bye-bye.
16:33Bye-bye.
16:34Bye-bye.