We would be out for revenge against Olympiacos, says Arteta

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has said that obviously he wants revenge against Greek side Olympiacos when the two sides meet in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 game.

Olympiacos eliminated Arsenal in the last season’s edition, thanks to a last minute goal that left a bitter taste in the Gunners mouth. Speaking during the press conference ahead of the game on if he wants revenge, he said: “Obviously,”

“It was a really tough one to swallow. The way it happened at the end, it was really cruel. After everything we did in the two games, to lose the way we did and with the late chance Auba had… But we moved on. We have some feelings towards that team and we want to put it right in the next round.”

“Emotionally it really drained us because it was a rollercoaster during the game and with what happened,” he said on the team’s feeling after the loss. 

“It could have ended in a beautiful way, but it ended in a really harsh way for us. I think emotionally it took some time to get the team and some individuals lifted because it really hurt.”

Arsenal would first travel to Greece on Thursday and face Tottenham in a North London derby in between before welcoming Olympiacos to London for the second leg, on the mental side of the game he said:

“Well, obviously, we have the two games to look at and everything that happened in those two games. The disappointment that we had to digest, and it took some time to do that because it was a hard one.

“We had a lot of faith and enthusiasm in the competition, and we were knocked out. And now we have another opportunity. It’s the beauty of this game.

“It’s a completely different context but the reality is the same that we have to beat them twice to go through in the competition and we have to be better than them.”

Arsenal are 10th on the Premier League table and risk missing out on European competition next season unless they win the Europa League and are one of the favourites to win the competition.