Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Champions League draw vs Bayer Leverkusen: 'We're very excited'  

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta shared his reaction after Champions League draw as Arsenal gear up for crucial  Chelsea clash

on injury concerns: 

No so far, we’re waiting for tomorrow, the last training session, to understand if we have one or two available from last week.  

on Kai Kavertz, Ben White and Max Dowman: 

We are hopeful. Max will play some minutes tonight with under-21s, Kai will train tomorrow and Ben we’ll see.

on drawing Bayer Leverkusen in the UCL round of 16: 

Well, we are very excited to play the next round. We have earned the right to be in a strong position, what we’ve done in the group stage and that’s it. Now we need to start to analyse them and find ways to be better than them to try and go through the tie.

on the mood following our win over Spurs compared to post-Wolves: 

Not too high, not too low. I try to be as stable as possible, I try to have perspectives always about what a result or a performance brings outside or within the group and I always try to be positive about it.

on staying grounded: It’s something that I need. I mean, you are like this every single day, I’m happy and sad, you cannot be like this, you cannot be your best with that. Obviously you have to be very critical with yourself, very analytical with what we do and try to be always as good as we possibly can.

on Viktor Gyokeres’ form: 

Well, I think one thing leads to another. When you score the first one, the performance is good, you have more time with your teammates, you understand the games, the opponents, the league better, everything helps. We know his qualities, he’s undoubtedly an incredible striker. We need to feed to his quality, we need to understand him better, he needs to understand the team, the league better and I think we are in the right trajectory.

on if Gyokeres had any self-doubt: 

I don’t know, that’s a question for him. Obviously I know the demands that he’s put on himself, the expectations that he has to help the team. I’m confident because I ask our defenders a lot of times when they have to train against our players. How do you feel about that? That’s a really good way to understand the quality of a player or how it is to defend.

on if there’s a psychological advantage over Chelsea: 

No, I think what it is, is about the preparation, and the preparation gives you confidence and the right emotional state to get to the game with the belief and the conviction that you’re going to win it, and after that, you have to earn the right to do it.

on if March will define our season:I don’t think March will [define it], but it will be very important with what is going to happen in April and May, that’s for sure. There are competitions in knockout stages, and you are in or you are out.

on if we are an exciting team:Well. I think we’ve scored more goals in a season [2023/24] than in the history of Arsenal Football Club. So you can put any name or adjective that you want.

on Chelsea’s approach:We don’t know - I mean, they’ve done different things, and they can change throughout the game. They have the players and they have a manager who is very comfortable doing that - so we’re prepared. We’re going to be prepared for the possible scenarios that we can face throughout the game, and try to do better than that.

on if finishing second the last three years is a motivation:When you play like this, you only want to be first, that’s it. So imagine how the rest of the teams are. That’s the aim - always get better, always try to excel the possibilities of the team, whether that be individually or collectively. That’s what we’re trying to do, get to the last stage of the competitions in April and May and see what we’re able to do.

on if his team ever show signs of nerves:

I want to see signs of confidence, enthusiasm, and a lot of will to win. I want to see what is in front of us, and that’s what I see every single day from the team.

on if he has confidence because of our recent record against Chelsea:

That doesn’t change the preparation. We know the importance of the game, and we know the team we’re going to have in front of us. We just have to prepare in the best way to have the right to win it. As I always say, there’s nothing else you can do. What we did two weeks or two years ago is irrelevant. Every game and context is different, because the players might be different and all of the teams can be in a different state. But the state is different, and we’re prepared.

on Viktor’s stats this season:

I want the stats to show that we are the better team and have achieved what we want. He can be a huge contributor to our success, scoring goals and doing many of the things that he does really well throughout the games.

on how he’s understanding Eze better:

You see how players react in relation to certain decisions that you take. When you have better games; when you have certain difficulties throughout the games. His role has been modified a few times throughout this season, and his reaction has always been top. It’s been top after two performances - that’s what we need, because he’s been exceptional in the manner that he’s behaving every single day. What we need is that those manners are now transformed into huge performances that decide who matches us - that’s the reason why we’re growing.

on understanding Eze emotionally:

Yes [it’s important], and tactically as well. To understand him, you have to understand how he connects with other players. One of the best connections that we can build in and around him in this space is that he’s more comfortable to use the assets and behaviours that he’s changed dramatically into really positive things. In the end, you don’t know if you’re going to see them in a week, two weeks, or a month. But they’re coming.

on Piero Hincapie's form:

I fully agree. Again, a bit more time with the team. A sequence of games where, probably, physically, he's in a much better place. He's been extremely dominant in all the defensive actions. He understands what we want in the attacking part as well much better, all the set-pieces, all the aspects that are relative to the game model that we have. He's very much liked amongst the players, you can see that the way they interact and react with him. I'm very pleased that he's showing that up.

on if his deal will become permanent:I would say so. Let's go through the season. We have already discussed the possible outcomes that we have after that period. But so far we are very, very happy with him.

on the potential Champions League route:

We are really excited. Being on four fronts and the way the team is consistently performing gives us a lot of hope and positive thoughts about what is coming. But we can only focus on the present. That's where we're going to put our energy and that's on Sunday.

on how hard it is to win a quadruple:

Has it been done? That's how difficult it is. Let’s go game by game, let's try to continue to be there until the last stage of every competition, and then we'll see what happens.

on if he thinks about winning the quadruple:

Not really. Not so much on the outcome. I focus a lot on what we have to do to continue in the manner and the trajectory that we are as a team, and from there, obviously try to improve.

on if he would play Eze on the left to bring in Odegaard:

There is a possibility to do that, for sure. I think we only did it once, and it was for a short period of time because Martin had a shoulder injury. As well, obviously, because we had players out, now in midfield so we lost. Martin was out, Mikel was out, Kai was out as well. Ethan was sent on loan so we had less options and that's the reason as well that he's been playing more regularly now.

on a partnership between Hincapie and Eze down the left:

It's a combination that we can do. When we talk about connection, that's a connection that I think will work really well, especially against a certain type of opponent. So that's another option that we can do.

on Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice's praise of him:

Well, I always said that the difficulty of being so long at a football club is probably in that relationship, that belief that you need to have from the players. Because at the end, when you look at them and you're talking or you're proposing to do something, you need to inspire them and they need to be on board immediately. I'm very pleased that the boys are feeling that way, that they want to continue to work with us and with all the coaches and the staff. That means that they enjoy what they do.