Arsenal return to Champions League action against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on Wednesday night with momentum on their side after a commanding 4–1 win over Tottenham in the North London Derby, a match where Eberechi Eze stole the show with a superb hat-trick. The victory kept the Gunners firing on all cylinders domestically, and now attention turns to a huge European task at the Emirates, Softfootball reports.
Speaking to the media in his pre-Bayern Munich press conference shared via Arsenal’s official X handle, Mikel Arteta addressed team news, player returns, tactical decisions, and the magnitude of facing a European powerhouse. The manager appeared energised and intentional, insisting his players must carry Sunday’s emotion into Wednesday’s clash.
With the squad welcoming back several important names and others nearing full fitness, Arteta discussed squad depth, reintegration challenges, and maintaining standards across a brutal schedule that sees Arsenal face Bayern before another huge Premier League weekend.
On still feeling the energy from the 4–1 win over Tottenham, Arteta said:
Yes, I do, and we have to make sure we carry that energy back to the stadium tomorrow, to each individual, and play with the same dominant aggression and efficiency against a top side.
On whether Martinelli and Madueke are in contention to start, and who else could be involved, he explained:
They are, and we’re going to have a meeting now to decide on Martin [Odegaard]. He was very close for the previous game, so we are hopeful that tomorrow he can be in the squad as well.
On how Gyokeres and Havertz are progressing in their rehab, the manager said:
Really good, both of them. In the next few days, they’re going to have a repeat scan to see how everything is and where we can push them for the weekend.
On whether this is the biggest challenge of the season so far, Arteta responded:
Well, every opponent brings different challenges. They are in a great moment. The level of consistency they show in resource, performance, in every metric that they have, it’s very, very impressive. We know that, but that’s a massive opportunity as well for us to show what we are capable of.
On whether he always believed Vincent Kompany would become a good manager, he said:
My feeling was that Vinny was going to be excellent at whatever he chose to do, and I’m very happy that it went so well for him, because he has such a presence, intelligence, love for the game, work rate, so I knew whatever he was going to touch, he was going to make it really good, so I’m not surprised at all.
On the challenge of reintegrating injured players when the level is very high, Arteta explained:
Especially because they’ve been out for a long period of time, six, seven, eight weeks, and that’s quite a long time, but to be fair when I see them training today as well and how willing they are, all of them to play a part to start, ideally, in the camp, it’s great. So they seem to be in a good place, we have to manage that because we have a very demanding week and opponents, but they will manage to bring it in, which is great to see, and the rest are great.
On keeping players calm when they are eager to get back on the pitch, he said:
Well we have to look at the individuals obviously and make sure that they are ready to start a game like this, and the second one as well is for how long they can play. We need to be very mindful about how many of those players we put on the pitch because most of them might not be available to finish 90 minutes, so we need to be conscious about the subs that we need to use, how we’re going to use it, the windows that we have, in order to be very efficient with our decision-making throughout the game, and we’ll plan in regards to that.
On deciding between high-quality players such as Eze and Odegaard, Arteta said:
I do because the priority is for the team to be as efficient as possible and to win football matches as a priority number one, and they’re going to have to deal with those situations. Players are going to have to merit to play, and the higher the standards each individual puts in, the higher the level of the team is going to be. So we’re going to have to live with that in a really positive way because it’s something extraordinary.
On whether Arsenal are already one of Europe’s elite or must beat Bayern to be considered one, he responded:
I don’t know, if you talk about performances and consistency, hopefully, yes, but to consider that in terms of the trophies at that level, I mean, we have never won the Champions League in our history, and Bayern Munich won six. We are nothing compared to Real Madrid, they’re a different universe. So, we’re going to get there.
On how much beating Bayern would boost belief across all fronts, Arteta concluded:
Yeah, we had the same question before Sunday, and great, we won it, then we go, and then you finish the game, then they won it, it’s Bayern Munich. And now we’re going to do Bayern Munich, and we’re going to try to beat them for sure, and then it’s going to be Chelsea, and this is how ruthless at the moment the schedule is, it’s demanding, but at the same time, how privileged we are to be involved in three incredible games in six days.
Arsenal now brace for one of the defining nights of their European campaign, a chance to test their progress against one of the continent’s giants, energised by derby victory and strengthened by returning players. If they can rise to the moment, momentum could quickly become belief that they might as well win it all.
