After a five-week break from the competition, we resume our Champions League campaign away to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Having finished third in the new-format league phase - with six wins, one draw and one defeat from our eight matches - we received a bye straight into the round of 16, where the Dutch champions lay in wait.
PSV finished 14th, with a 4-2-2 record, and then saw off Juventus 4-3 over two legs in the play-off. They now stand between us and a place in the last eight, as we face them over two legs in the next eight days.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Monday, the boss said he was keen for his team to continue the excellent form we’ve shown in the competition already this season, when asked what his message has been to his players in the build up.
“Certainly, focusing of what we have done in this competition and why we’ve done it,” he said. “That’s the biggest reaction, because this doesn’t happen at that level of consistency for that many months for a random reason, it’s because we have it or not.
“There are certain things that we’re going to have to adapt, that’s certainly unquestionable, and still be very efficient and a top team.”
“When it comes to that stage, it’s about lifting the level and the standards, every individual has to be at their best. When we do that, with the team that we have and the connection we have between us, we are a really strong team.”
It’s been just over 12 months since we were last at the Philips Stadion to face PSV in the Champions League. Last season we drew 1-1 in the Netherlands, having already qualified from the group stage, a group stage that began with a 4-0 home win over the Dutch outfit. Mikel Arteta believes the circumstances are very different this season though.
“Every situation is different,” he said. “One year in football is a long, long, long time! The context has changed, they have other players as well, we have other players as well, momentum is different.
“We played a competition at that moment where we were already qualified, they weren’t, and now it’s a tie to decide who is through, so it’s very different.”
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