Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was delighted with his sides overall performance in the Champions League after qualifying as group winners.
The Gunners ended their first Champions League group stage campaign in seven years on top, after collecting 13 points from their six games.
After making eight changes from their weekend defeat to Aston Villa, Arteta’s men drew 1-1 in their final group stage game against PSV. Eddie Nketiah scored five minutes before half-time for the visitors before Yorbe Vertessen level for the hosts shortly after the break.
When asked to sum up how Arsenal’s Champions League return has gone Arteta was more than happy with how it went for his side:
“Overall, I think, very positive. Having not been in the competition for six or seven years and having a team that hasn’t got that much experience, I think we’ve competed really well.
“I really liked the approach of the team in every single game, the way we’ve tried to play.
“We had some big results and big experiences, like the one we had in Seville or Lens, or even today looking at how the team can act and how fair it is to give certain players that exposure when you make so many changes.
“Overall finishing first with a game to play we have to be really happy.”
By winning their group the Gunners will now not face the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, something Arsenal fans had gotten used to happening in previous years.
When asked whether his side has enough to potentially win the competition, Arteta was stark in his response:
“What I have seen is that we can compete at this level and we finished top of the group which is very important and not easy to do.
“Three top teams and we did it with a game in hand. We have to go game by game and see how we arrive in February, which is the key.”
