3 reasons why Arsenal should focus on the Champions League instead of the Premier League this season

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and his players have been left with few options, with winning the Champions League this season being among them.

3 reasons why Arsenal should focus on the Champions League instead of the Premier League this season

Arsenal are aiming to win the Champions League title this season. (via X)

Arsenal seems to have failed to catch up in the race for the Premier League title for the third season in a row. The club has now reiterated its focus on winning the Champions League, a competition that they have never won.

Mikel Arteta had confidently claimed that the Gunners would not give up on their hopes of winning the EPL title this season and that it would have to be ‘over his dead body’. However, the club’s recent defeat to West Ham United crushed their hopes for a major turnaround. Arsenal now remain 13 points behind league leaders Liverpool on the EPL table with a game in hand.

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The toothless Gunners will also be playing without the services of a recognized striker for the rest of the season following season-ending injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz. Long-term injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have also dented the club’s chances. Having also failed in his January transfer pursuits, Arteta had been left with three reasons to focus on the UCL.

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A statement for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta

Winning the 2024-25 Champions League would be a statement win for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has failed to deliver any major piece of silverware in his five-year-long stint. Excluding two Community Shields and an FA Cup, he has not been that successful in terms of trophy wins.

Mikel Arteta trophy wins Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has won only three trophies, two Community Shields and an FA Cup, in his Arsenal career. (via X)

The Spaniard boss has undoubtedly had a great impact at the club, helping Arsenal revive its past glory. While Arsenal might not be sacking their manager, Arteta is still reeling under a lot of pressure to deliver success. The Gunners play PSV in the UCL last-16. Should they make it into the quarter-finals, the club would face a tough challenge against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

More realistic ambitions of winning a title

The Champions League remains the only realistic ambition for Arsenal this season to win a major piece of silverware. The club has already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup and also remains way behind in the race to the Premier League title.

Last season, the Gunners closely lost out to Bayern Munich in the UCL quarter-finals after having made a return to the competition following a seven-year-long hiatus. Interestingly, the club finished third on the UCL league table this season with six wins out of eight matches. They only finished behind Liverpool and Barcelona on the table and were among the top-performing sides in the league stages.

Would be Arsenal’s first UCL title ever

In case Arsenal managed to win the Champions League title this season, it would be the club’s first-ever UCL triumph in its 138-year-old history. The club has never won a major European title since it was founded in 1886, despite having remained among England’s best clubs.

While Arsenal has won the English first division on 13 occasions, the FA Cup 14 times, and the EFL Cup twice, they have never made their mark in European football. Their only European triumphs remain the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. Arsenal came close to winning the UCL in 2006 when they lost to Barcelona in the final.