Arsenal are set to take on Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League next month and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta hopes that his side can go all the way
Arsenal cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after they beat Club Brugge 9-3 on aggregate in the last-16.
Mikel Arteta rang the changes for the second leg clash on Wednesday, with Arsenal having comprehensively won the first leg 7-1. The second leg ultimately ended 2-2 thanks to goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Declan Rice, Ivan Perisic and Couhaib Driouech.
Arsenal are now set to face Real Madrid in the next round after the defending champions beat rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties in their last-16 clash. Here, Mirror Football takes a look at the latest headlines from in and around the Emirates…
Sterling makes Arsenal vow
Raheem Sterling has largely struggled so far this season, but the winger impressed against PSV as he assisted both Zinchenko and Rice’s goals.
“You can only control what you can control,” Sterling told TNT Sports after the game. “Sometimes I haven’t had as many minutes as I would have liked, but it’s just down to myself to keep knocking at the door and I still believe that I’ve got a lot to play here.
“If it’s 10 minutes, 20, 45 or a start I just need to be ready and try and help the team as much as I can. With a leader like Mikel I don’t want to be knocking at his door physically, he’s the one in charge and it’s down to me to keep trying to push.”
Arsenal ready for “next step”
Arteta has insisted Arsenal “want to make the next step” after they reached back-to-back Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years.
When asked about the possibility of going all the way, Arteta said: “We have to value that and recognise it’s very difficult to do. Now we want to make the next step. It’s very difficult but we are capable to do it. It is important for us because we want to win – and to win, you have to go through the stages, and because the club needs it.
“We are a club that want to be the best and want to be competing with the best in the world. To do that you have to constantly be there. It’s very difficult but we’ve done it for two years in a row and we have the capacity and ability to do it even better.”
Guimaraes interest
Andrea Berta is set to become Arsenal’s new sporting director and Spanish outlet AS are reporting that he is targeting Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes.
The report states that Berta is a long-term admirer of Guimaraes and has already tried to sign him on three separate occasions. It is also claimed that Newcastle have agreed to sell Guimaraes for £60million next summer if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League.
Guimaraes is under contract at Newcastle until 2028, having signed a new deal just 18 months ago, but it is said the midfielder would be open to a move.
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