Mikel Arteta: Liverpool won title with fewer points than Arsenal in last two seasons

 Mikel Arteta has said timing can be the key to winning major trophies as he pointed out that Liverpool confirmed their Premier League title with fewer points than Arsenal earned at the end of each of the last two campaigns.

Arsenal finished second behind Manchester City with 84 and 89 points in the past two seasons, while Liverpool wrapped up the league title this season having earned 82 points, but with four games left to play.

Arteta, speaking before Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris St-Germain on Wednesday night, was responding to questions about whether he feels pressure to win a major trophy this season.

“We’re going to try to do it [win the Champions League] this season,” said the Arsenal manager. “Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons.

“So you have to be in the right moment in the right place. Hopefully here we are in the right moment in the right place in Paris tomorrow, to earn the right to be in that final.”

The Arsenal manager, whose team are trailing 1-0 from the first leg in London, declared that his team were in France to “make history” as they look to reach their first Champions League final since 2006.

He also challenged his players to stand up and become the hero on the night, as Declan Rice did with his extraordinary brace of free-kicks in the quarter-final against Real Madrid.

“You’re going to get remembered for those moments,” Arteta said. “The biggest stage is when the team needs it, when the club needs it, to deliver those moments.

“I think it’s within us. We don’t need anything else. Now we need to use it to channel that energy, that emotion, that willingness that we all have inside ourselves to deliver and perform at the best possible level, at the highest level that each of us has.

“You have to embrace and take the game, to make something special. To be in the final of the Champions League, you have to do something exceptional throughout the tournament.

“We’ve done a lot of great things, but tomorrow in Paris against this team is the moment to do it. We want to elevate the level of this team and start to make history. That’s the opportunity we have ahead of us to do it.”

Rice: We need to show ‘big balls’ to make history

Declan Rice has said Arsenal must show “big balls” and produce “magic moments” if they are to overcome Paris St-Germain. Rice insisted that his team have “no fear” of PSG’s collection of attacking stars.

Arsenal’s players have taken confidence from their thrashing of Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, which included a stirring away win at the Santiago Bernabéu, and they will look to replicate that performance in the French capital.

“We are here to win the game, we are here to make a statement,” Rice said. “We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we are ready to play at this level.”

Rice produced two stunning free-kicks in Arsenal’s victory over Real and he revealed that Arteta has been encouraging his players to produce more of those moments of individual genius in Paris.

“The manager calls them magic moments,” Rice said. “He always talks about having someone deliver a magic moment. In that game against Madrid, obviously I was able to produce two free-kicks, which were incredible.

“But tomorrow night, a semi-final, it is set up for someone else to maybe get that magic moment. Hopefully it’s me again, but you’re going to need a moment of magic to win a game. As a team we’re going to need that.”

Failure to win this season’s Champions League would extend Arsenal’s wait for a major trophy and increase the pressure on Arteta before next season. Speaking at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night, Rice expressed his belief that the first trophy for this group of players will lead to many more.

“The next step for us is to win trophies,” he said. “I sense that we are close, but to get over the line you have to win that first one. I feel like they will start coming in, for sure. We have such a good group – we need to keep believing and being positive.”

Arsenal’s hopes of success have been boosted by the return to the team of key midfielder Thomas Partey, who missed the first leg through suspension. Partey’s likely inclusion would allow Rice to play in a more advanced position against PSG’s group of technical midfielders.

“We really need to be positive,” he said. “You can’t come into a semi-final away in Paris and not have that belief and courage that you’re going to come here and win the game. So we’re ready and we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a really special night.

“When we went to the Bernabéu the other week, there were a lot of questions on whether we could rise to that occasion. We obviously had a 3-0 lead, but there was still so much talk about them obviously coming back and playing at the Bernabéu. As a group we handled that amazingly well.

“Obviously, the atmosphere tomorrow night is going to be incredible as well, but we have proved that we can handle big situations. Tomorrow night is another massive step for this team. We’re a young team, but if we want to keep being one of the best teams and want to win stuff, we need to keep taking these massive steps.”

Arteta said his team has arrived in Paris with “huge enthusiasm and huge energy”, adding: “We are a win away from being in the Champions League final, in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, against a great opponent. It doesn’t get much better than that. We are here to make history.”