Mikel Arteta reflects on his UEFA Champions League debut as a manager

The manager of Arsenal Football Club, Mikel Arteta, has reflected on his debut in the UEFA Champions League against PSV.

The Spaniard was speaking after his team defeated the Dutch side 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Mikel Arteta revealed that he was emotional when the competition's theme song was played at the stadium before the match.

The four goals were scored by Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, and Gabriel Jesus before halftime, while team captain Martin Odegaard added another in the 70th minute.

The game was the first time most of the players were playing in the competition, and it was the first time for the club in six years since Arsene Wenger left the Gunners.

"I am really happy. It was really emotional just listening to the music and the atmosphere that we had in the stadium, it was great. It is a good memory for the first game to win 4-0, and the way we played, I’m really happy. I could sense over the past 48 hours and the way [the players] were, the level of attention that they wanted, how they were competing like they were up for the fight. But then you have to do it against a really good side that hasn’t lost a single game, and today we won because we were really efficient in both boxes. We had some transition moments to defend after their reply, and we did that really, really well and we were really clinical. We were really composed on the ball to pick the right player, the right pass, the right space and that was the difference in the game."