BERLIN: Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said last season’s Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain was fueling his side this campaign, admitting he had tried but failed to get over the heartbreak.
Arsenal play at Bayern Munich, one of the favorites for the tournament alongside the Gunners, on Wednesday.
Arteta’s side took an early lead against holders PSG in Budapest in May’s final but conceded a second-half equalizer and then lost on penalties.
“I’ve tried, but I haven’t managed,” Arteta told reporters on Tuesday when asked if his side was over the defeat.
“That’s the reality. So I tried for many weeks during the summer, but even today, and when I see the ball, when I (hear) the music, when I see the scenes, I want it so badly.
“We know that we have to go step by step, but I think that’s fired up the team, and all of us individually, because we know that because of a penalty, we are not the champions of Europe.
“So, yeah, let’s try again.”
The English champions have won 10 from 11 matches in all competitions to start the season and face a short-staffed Bayern.
Already without the suspended Michael Olise and the injured Jamal Musiala, Bayern come into the match with doubts around ill coach Vincent Kompany, captain Manuel Neuer and midfielder Joshua Kimmich.
Arteta said he hoped to see Kompany in the opposite dugout, adding his side wanted to face the best version of Bayern in order to test themselves and improve in Europe’s top competition.
“You want to face the best players in these kind of games and duke it out with the best in the world.
“First of all, as a team, you see how incredibly well coached they are, the mindset that they have, the conviction that they have in their reaction and then in real quality moments that they can produce throughout the games, when we look at the goals and chances that they generate.”
Bayern striker Harry Kane, who enjoyed a decade-long rivalry with Arsenal during his time at Spurs, is in top form and is among the favorites for the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded in late October in London.
Arteta said Kane was “something else, on another level,” but backed his side’s defense to take care of the England captain.
“They get tested a lot in the Premier League and they’ve already done it in the Champions League.”