{"id":31005,"date":"2026-04-07T13:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=31005"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:45:56","slug":"players-need-to-channel-frustration-into-motivation-against-sporting-arteta","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/players-need-to-channel-frustration-into-motivation-against-sporting-arteta\/","title":{"rendered":"Players need to channel frustration into motivation against Sporting: Arteta"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said the pain of back\u2011to\u2011back cup defeats must be used as motivation as his team turn their focus to the first leg of \u200btheir Champions League quarter\u2011final against Sporting this Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The London club arrived in \u200cLisbon on the heels of their first back-to-back losses this season, a 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in the League Cup final and a 2-1 upset by Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup \u200bquarter-finals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We have to have some perspective on how difficult what we have done up\u00a0\u200buntil now has been,” Arteta told reporters on Monday. “Feel the pain, use\u00a0\u2060it to improve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are very clear what happened and why it happened. This is\u00a0\u200bfootball.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With Arsenal reduced from four competitions to two, Arteta said calm thinking rather than panic \u200bwas key as his players look to respond on the European stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I think what you have to be is clear, understand why it happened,” he said. “And when you understand that, be better, and that is \u200bwhat we have to do.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Neither Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze nor Jurrien Timber will be\u00a0\u200bavailable for the first leg after the trio did not travel to Portugal due to injuries, although \u200cArteta said\u00a0\u2060he was hopeful they could return at the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There was better news elsewhere, with Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all available after being spotted in training.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Arsenal face a Sporting side unbeaten at home in Europe this season, with the Portuguese champions looking to \u200bseize the initiative in \u200bthe two-legged tie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sporting\u00a0\u2060midfielder Maxi Araujo shrugged off suggestions Arsenal are favourites on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“There are no favourites in this play-off,” he told reporters. “They are playing well,\u00a0\u200bwe are too.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sporting manager Rui Borges said the fact Arsenal have \u200blost successive \u2060games means little.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“No, I don’t believe in that and great teams always want to win,” Borges told reporters. “They will be more focused, willing to show their collective individual capacity and so\u00a0\u2060I think\u00a0\u200bit will make it more difficult for us.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The second \u200bleg is April 15 at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In between the two legs, Arsenal return to their Premier League title\u00a0\u200bquest when the league leaders host Bournemouth on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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–Reuters–<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30854,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-31005","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The second \u200bleg is April 15 at the Emirates Stadium.","published_date":"","news_description":"The second \u200bleg is April 15 at the Emirates Stadium.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31007,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31005\/revisions\/31007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}