Arteta remarks are wrong but hurt can add steel to Arsenal

Look past the manager's blinkered views and there is a sense his team could yet scale the heights with four new players and by harnessing the pain of Paris

- David Hytner

Rage, anger, frustration. A bad feeling in the tummy. Mikel Arteta felt the emotions churn; these his words as he tried to process it all. And this was on Saturday night after his Arsenal team had lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The manager's idea was to harness the pain, to have it inspire one of the most famous results in club history when they went to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday for the Champions League semi-final second leg. In the end, after a tumultuous game, Arteta would be left with pretty much the same sense.

There was pride at how Arsenal played, particularly in the opening 15 minutes, how they carried the fight to the last. But after another 2-1 defeat, this one for a 3-1 aggregate exit, the greatest takeaway for Arteta was a sickness in the base of his stomach.

It will stay with him and, in the bitter aftermath as he faced the press, it overwhelmed him, leading him to push a highly subjective and rather petulant line. Arteta did begin by congratulating PSG, who will face Inter in their second final, seeking to crack the code at long last and win a first European Cup.