Arsenal’s quest for Champions League glory begins tomorrow against Athletic Bilbao. The Gunners’ summer purchasing binge has given their attack a new look and a new lease on life.
According to AFP, Mikel Arteta’s team made it to the semifinals of Europe’s top tournament for the first time since 2009 last season, but they lost to Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to win the tournament.
Arsenal also didn’t do well in the Premier League, where they finished second for the third year in a row, mostly because their forwards weren’t scoring.
Arteta worked on fixing that problem over the off-season by bringing in Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, and Eberechi Eze, who all added more firepower and depth to the Arsenal attack.
That costly revamp has already paid off, since Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Jesus are all out with injuries in the first few weeks of the new season.
Arteta’s new three players all did well in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Madueke, who plays on the side for England, has been in great form since Saka left. Gyokeres, a striker for Sweden, scored against Forest to make it three goals in his first four games.
Eze made his full debut on the left wing against Forest and set up Gyokeres’ goal. Martin Zubimendi, a midfielder from Spain, scored twice for Arsenal, his first goals since joining from Real Sociedad in the summer.
Arsenal has won three of their first four Premier League games this season. They only lost to title rivals Liverpool by a score of 1-0 thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s amazing late free-kick.
But Arteta is under a lot of pressure to win the club’s first trophy since 2020, after spending a lot of money on transfers for years.
The Basque coach, who is going back to his native region this week, added, “It doesn’t matter what we want to do; it is what we have to do.”
“It’s fun for me,”
Arteta’s perfect afternoon versus Forest was marred by one gloomy cloud before their Champions League start in Bilbao.
After 17 minutes, Captain Martin Odegaard had to leave because of a shoulder injury.
Arteta didn’t suggest the Norway midfielder wouldn’t go to Spain, though. He said, “We have to talk to the doctors and see, but I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to be ready for Tuesday.”
If Odegaard is out, though, it will be up to Eze and the rest of the team to attack Athletic as they want to get off to a good start in Europe.
Arsenal has never won the Champions League, and the last time they won the Premier League was in 2004.
Eze, who was let go by Arsenal when he was 13, would love to end that long dry spell.
The England international has enjoyed a meteoric rise since that rejection, earning his way back to Arsenal after starring in Palace’s FA Cup-winning run last season.
He is about to play in the Champions League for the first time in his career.
“It’s fun for me.” This is the reason I play football. These are chances that you want. Eze remarked, “This is it for me, so I’m enjoying it as much as I can.”
“It is special and it’s not everyone that gets to experience these types of moments.”
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