Mikel Arteta is challenging Arsenal to turn recent cup setbacks into fuel as the Premier League leaders visit Sporting CP for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Estadio Jose Alvalade, with injuries, history and expectation all shaping a high-pressure tie.
Arsenal enter the Lisbon clash after a shock FA Cup exit against Championship side Southampton in the quarter-finals and a damaging EFL Cup final loss to Manchester City at Wembley, where Nico O'Reilly scored twice, leaving their hopes of a quadruple already over despite a strong league position.
Asked about guarding against panic after suffering back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the first time this season, Arteta focused on reflection and control, saying: "I think
what you have to be is clear. Instead of panic, understand if that [losing games] happens, why it happened, and bring clarity. And when you analyse that, and you accept that, you'll be better. That's it, and that's the thing that we have to do. Have some perspective on how difficult we have been up to now. Then, feel that pain, feel that emotion and use it to be better and to improve. We were very clear on what happened, the reason why it happened. Watching the game two times, we didn't deserve to lose that match, but this is football, and we get punished for things that are related to our identity. "
The Premier League leaders sit nine points ahead of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, although City hold a game in hand, and Arsenal are also considered one of the main contenders for the Champions League title, adding weight to Arteta's insistence that emotional control, rather than fear, must guide the response to their recent Wembley disappointment and the Southampton defeat.
Data from the Opta supercomputer underlines the scale of opportunity facing Arsenal against Sporting CP, giving Arteta's team a 78% chance of progressing to the semi-finals and a 28% probability of lifting the Champions League, despite Arsenal having gone out in five of their eight previous quarter-final appearances in the competition.
Last season, Arsenal defeated Real Madrid at this stage and now aim to reach the Champions League semi-finals in back-to-back campaigns for the first time, yet the trip to Sporting CP comes with a warning from history, as Arsenal have never won away to Portuguese opponents in a major European knockout tie, drawing four and losing two, including a 1-0 defeat at Porto in the 2023-24 last 16.
Arteta stressed that staying true to Arsenal's playing identity remains central before facing Sporting CP, adding: "That's the thing that we need to defend in the strongest possible way because that's the reason why we are where we are today. So, [we are] hungrier than ever, very excited and very, very motivated for tomorrow's game. "
LondonLisbon pic.twitter.com/fn0dRNE698Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 6, 2026
Arsenal Champions League squad news for Sporting CP
Team selection for the Sporting CP meeting is affected by fitness concerns, with Arteta confirming that Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber are ruled out through injury, while Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all trained before flying to Lisbon and could feature if they respond well to recent sessions.
Speaking about those fitness battles before facing Sporting CP, Arteta said: "They're having trouble. They're not ready yet. Let's see, confirmed Arteta. Hopefully, they're going to be ready for the weekend if everything goes well. That's a massive boost because in recent days, we lost so many important players. And that's something that. that we need to change immediately. "
Key numbers frame Arsenal's situation heading into the Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP:
As Arsenal prepare for Sporting CP, Arteta's side carry a commanding domestic lead but also the weight of recent knockout disappointments, and the response in Lisbon will test whether the group can use those setbacks, long-running European challenges and current injury issues as a platform to push deeper into this season's Champions League.
