Mikel Arteta has no intention of bringing his Arsenal players back down to earth. Instead he hopes they can use the adrenaline generated by the midweek win over Real Madrid when Brentford visit the Emirates tomorrow.
Arsenal hammered the European champions 3-0 on Tuesday night to claim a commanding lead in their Champions League, quarter-final tie ahead of the return in Spain next week.
Rather than trying to keep his players’ feet on the ground, Arteta is hoping they can maintain the momentum when they face the mid-table Bees.
The only acceptable reaction to Declan’s free-kick double: 🤯
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He said: “It’s not about bringing them back, it’s now maintaining that energy and that momentum and using it towards Brentford and the very difficult game that we’re going to face against a team that when you look at what they’ve done, it’s just incredible, it’s remarkable, it’s a beautiful story.
“And they have earned it in the way they work, in the way they are organised, in the way they believe, in the way they play. So, big credit to them and it’s going to be a really tough test for us.
“It was a very special night [against Madrid]. That’s over, and now the football videos are on Brentford, because, again, that’s going to require the best of us.”
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Rice and Saka fit to face Brentford
Two-goal hero Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both came off against Madrid but Arteta revealed they were fit and available for the weekend, although he refused to divulge whether he would rest players ahead of the game at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“I mean, this is our context, play every three days and play in different competitions, the biggest stages playing in Europe, then coming back to the Premier League and having a completely different game, completely different opposition and context around the game,” he added.
“You want to become a team that has the capacity to win in any of those. You have to do it every three days, regardless of what the scenario is.”
Arteta talks up opposite number Frank
Arsenal go into the weekend 11 points behind leaders Liverpool with just seven games remaining and realistically knowing they have to win each one to stand any chance of catching the Merseysiders.
But Arteta is wary of the threat posed by Brentford and admitted his respect for tomorrow’s counterpart Thomas Frank.
He said: “A lot. More than respect, really, it’s admiration. I think he’s done it with a football club that everybody shares the vision, a very clear identity, a club, a team that we can learn a lot from because the way they did it is very, very clever, in my opinion.
“And then the way he has sustained and evolved as well the model, really well-timed, in my opinion. So, look at the results that they had away from home over the last six matches as well. So, we know what is going to be required from us to beat them.”
