Arteta admits keeping « poison in his veins » after Champions League final loss to PSG

Mikel Arteta has not gotten over Arsenal’s penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on May 30. In an interview with The Athletic, the Spanish manager made a rare confession about the state of mind this failure has left him in.

« I still have this scar, as Arsène says. I still have this poison in my veins. And it must stay there, because it’s in these moments that we learn and it will probably be an essential driving force for me and for everyone else », he declared.

The defeat is all the more cruel as Arsenal had just won the Premier League for the first time in twenty-two years, just days before the European final. The Gunners had therefore come close to a historic double before the penalty shootout broke their momentum.

Arteta, extended until 2030, nevertheless refuses to settle for satisfaction. « I feel there is still much to do, and this is only the beginning », he added, signaling that neither the league title nor the continental final constitute an endpoint for him.

On the sporting front, Arsenal began the new season at a sustained pace, stringing together seven wins in seven matches before suffering a heavy defeat at Brighton (0-3) just before the international break. A setback that, to all appearances, has only further fueled this « poison » their manager speaks of.