Arteta says past Champions League pain can help Arsenal this season

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the team’s tough Champions League exit last season will help them this year, as they try to win the trophy for the first time.

The Gunners lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, who went on to win the tournament. Speaking before their opening game against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, Arteta said his players have learned from the experience.

“You learn a lot from it — it hurts, because we truly believed we could win,” Arteta said during a press conference at San Mames stadium.

“We played really well throughout the competition. Now we’ll try to improve and go further this time.”

Arteta added that many things need to go right to win Europe’s top club competition.

“We’ve learned that we’re good enough and can play against any team,” he said. “But you also need a bit of luck. You need all your players fit at the key moments, and sometimes you need a decision or a goal to go your way, because the margins are very small.”

Arsenal reached the final in 2006 but lost to Barcelona. Since then, they haven’t won a major European trophy. Their last big title was the FA Cup in 2020.

Arteta confirmed that several key players — Gabriel Saliba, Kai Havertz, Martin Ødegaard, Ben White and Bukayo Saka — will miss the match against Bilbao, who are playing in the Champions League for the first time in 11 years.

One of Arteta’s biggest choices as manager was bringing in goalkeeper David Raya in 2023. Some fans and media were unhappy when Raya replaced Aaron Ramsdale as the number one.

Last weekend, Raya played his 100th game for Arsenal and has kept 42 clean sheets. He’s now seen as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.

“When I joined Arsenal, there was a lot of talk and noise,” Raya said. “Aaron is a great goalkeeper, so people were surprised when I started playing. I didn’t have the best start either.”

“Everyone has bad games. I just had to stay focused and ignore the noise,” he said. “Off the pitch, I try not to listen to the criticism.”

Raya believes Arsenal can win the Champions League.

“We believe in ourselves, we want to win. We’re Arsenal and we play to win,” he said.

“But it’s a long road — both in the Champions League and in the Premier League.”