Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is very much confident of his boys making it to the finals despite losing 2-1 in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals against Spanish side Villarreal. According to the manager the one goal they scored is a life line for them and they are very happy and confident of qualifying.
Arsenal were 2-0 down from the first half of the game although they had one of their player sent out. Dani Ceballos was given a red card to reduce the English team ti ten before Nicolas Pepe scored from the penalty spot to give them a life line.
Mikel Arteta Hopeful Arsenal will Bounce Back
With the one goal advantage, it means Mikel Arteta and his team head into next Thursday’s second leg with genuine hope of reaching a second Europa League final in three seasons. The Europa League is the only chance of them making it to the Champions League next season if they eventually win the league as they are far from the Champions League spot on the EPL table.
Villarreal on the other hand are not in the Champions League spot in the La Liga table but could make it to the Europa League spot. They were also reduced to ten men with just ten minutes left to play, Etienne Capoue was shown a second yellow for a late tackle on Saka. The ‘Yellow Submarine will head into the second leg with their manager who is the former manager of Arsenal Unai Emery with the hope of get one goal and then defend their already victory.
Arteta said he is Confident they will win the next leg. According to him he said: “We didn’t want to come here and lose but after the way the game developed, you have to take the result. If you have to lose it is probably the best result we could have. He concluded by saying “I am confident we have a chance to win
