Arsenal progressed into the next round of the Champions League on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen – thanks to goals from Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze. Manchester City, instead, crashed out of the competition.
It was a contrast in nights for the two English teams that will face one another on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final.
Beaten 2-1 at home by Real Madrid (a 5-1 on aggregate), City now have the chance to win their first trophy of the season against the Gunners at Wembley.
They carry that trophy-winning gene – but it would be remiss to suggest they are favourites heading into the showdown at the weekend. Guardiola, following his side’s exit from Europe, agreed in his post-match interview.
Arsenal ‘the best team in Europe’, according to Guardiola
The Gunners, in their entire history, are yet to get their hands on the Champions League. The closest they came? Well, that was in 2005/06 when they faced Barcelona in the final.
Could this be year be theirs?
Certainly it can – and Guardiola believes they are currently the best team in Europe. Referencing their meeting in the capital this weekend and the minute number of defeats they’ve suffered this season, he said:
“We will challenge against the best team in England, so far, the best team in Europe, look at the results in the group stage, they have been the first, they’ve maybe lost three or four games this season.
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Instead of shy away from the prospect, the Catalan has insisted that competing against the very best for the biggest trophies is what football is all about.
“It’s the best, challenge them how we are, compete with them, we’ll have to see, after one or two weeks we play them in the Premier League and see. Football is that.”
“Sometimes they are better so it’s a good mirror to see what we have to do beat them. It’s just a game, we’ll prepare, try to compete and see who we are,” Guardiola concluded, per The Metro.
Can Arteta continue his terrific record against Guardiola?
‘In the end the results have not been good, except against Newcastle [in the FA Cup], but I’ve had the feeling we are an extraordinary team, we have many, many good things that I love to watch but we are still not complete, we are not aware in certain moments and departments that we have to be more clinical and still we are not,” Guardiola also claimed.
Arteta will be less fussed with City and more focused on how his Arsenal side can show up and win silverware for the first time in years.
Interestingly, the Spaniard last lost to Guardiola in April 2023 as he’s won three matches and drawn the other three. Before that point, however, it was dark. He had lost eight of their first nine meetings.
| Matches | 15 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Draws | 3 |
| Losses | 8 |
| Points per match | 1.00 |
Whether Guardiola is trying to be humble with his aforementioned admission or whether he is trying to shift the pressure onto the shoulders of his counterparts is unknown.
In the league, it’s clear that Arsenal are the dominant force. A nine-point lead over City (who are the nearest challengers) proves just that but a one-off match at Wembley can swing either way.
