Turning Focus: Arsenal's Mikel Arteta Shifts Attention to 'Thrilling' Champions League as Premier League Hopes Diminish

Mikel Arteta emphasized that Arsenal's primary focus remains on giving their all in every game, despite the fading hopes of winning the Premier League title this season. The Gunners find themselves trailing behind Liverpool by 15 points, following a series of three winless matches in the league, including a 1-1 draw against Manchester United. Despite the disappointment, Arsenal are determined to continue fighting for victory. With their eyes now set on the Champions League, where they have a strong advantage with a 7-1 first-leg victory over PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal will be aiming to secure their spot in the quarter-finals as they prepare to face the Dutch side at the Emirates in the upcoming fixture.

"We are going to carry on fighting to win every game," Spanish coach Arteta said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

"There are the demands we put on ourselves in every competition. We are very much conscious that the demands for this football club are to reach the highest level and to win football matches.

"There's always improvement. We have talked about what we can do better, it's about execution. My job is to give the players as many tools so we can deliver again."

Despite missing injured forwards Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, Arsenal had six different scorers in their crushing victory over PSV.

The Gunners, who have never won the Champions League, will face the winners of the tie between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the next round should they advance, as expected, on Wednesday.

"It's a competition that we have a lot of enthusiasm for. We have been very consistent and tomorrow can put us in an exciting position," Arteta said.

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France international defender William Saliba is keen to help guide his side to their first trophy since Arsenal's 2020 FA Cup triumph against Chelsea.

"I think we are very close, we need to keep going," Saliba said, referring to Arsenal's trophy ambitions.

"We can't stop working. When you're close and don't win trophies it's sad. With work we will make a big step and I am sure we will arrive there.

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"Everyone wants to win the Champions League, it's a competition that's hard to win, anything can happen."

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)