Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to 'enjoy opportunity' of reaching Champions League semi-final

Aiming for another consecutive spot in the semi-finals of Europe's top club tournament, Arsenal welcome Sporting on Wednesday holding a 1-0 advantage from their victory in last week's opening match in Lisbon.

However, the Gunners enter this return fixture amid some introspection following defeats in three of their previous four matches across all tournaments.

This rough patch has already derailed Arsenal's bids for two trophies, with Manchester City securing a 2-0 triumph in the League Cup final and Championship side Southampton eliminating them from the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Adding to Arteta's frustrations, the unexpected 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth on Saturday has put their long-awaited Premier League title aspirations, absent for 22 years, at risk.

Arsenal lead second-placed City by only six points, though the latter have a match to play and will face Arteta's squad in a crucial encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The weight of that upcoming fixture presents Arteta with tough choices regarding his team selection against Sporting.

Should the Arsenal boss deploy his top XI to regain momentum by overcoming the Portuguese title holders?

Alternatively, might he opt to preserve vital squad members for the Manchester City journey, relying on Arsenal's squad depth to manage Sporting?

This encounter marks the north London outfit's 54th outing of the campaign, a demanding calendar that may be wearing on them.

Arsenal have contended with injuries throughout the year, and several of Arteta's men appeared fatigued during the Bournemouth match, compounded by absences of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Jurrien Timber.

'Enjoy the opportunity'

Yet when questioned whether fatigue contributed to their latest setbacks, Arteta responded: "I don't want to pull on those excuses because we've been playing so many games, every three days, and we're going to have to continue to do that.

"That's the context and that's the scenario, and we have to embrace it and especially enjoy the opportunity.

"That's one of the things that I didn't see from the team, that level of enjoyment in certain moments and the fight that we have to have to really change the course of the game when it gets difficult.

"We're going to have different contexts from here to June, and we need to be able to adapt and resolve all of them, if we want to achieve what we want to achieve."

Viktor Gyokeres stood out as one of the few Arsenal players to emerge positively from the Bournemouth loss.

The Swedish forward netted a penalty in the opening half, bringing his seasonal total to 18 goals and indicating a promising adaptation to his debut year at the club after an initial sluggish period.

That said, Gyokeres was somewhat contained upon facing his old team Sporting in the initial leg.

Arteta needs to harness his robust build and sharp scoring instincts as key elements in Arsenal's quest for a maiden Champions League victory.

"We have a lot of important games ahead, and we need to embrace it and to enjoy playing those games," Gyokeres commented.

"It's a great game to have in a few days, so we just need to recover now, leave this behind and make a very good performance on Wednesday."