Every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-PSG presser | Press conference | News

After seeing his side beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 in the Champions League, Mikel Arteta was a happy manager as he entered the press conference room at Emirates Stadium.

He answered questions from the journalists in attendance, and discussed

Here is everything he had to say:

on managing the game after our two goals in the first half:
Especially the way we played the first half and how determined and brave we were, the quality we showed again against this kind of opponent and be so dominant, score the two goals. Then we wanted that different second half probably, continue to be that dominant and with the ball to be more composed than we were. We had three big chances to score the third one, and probably that would’ve killed the game, it didn’t. Credit to them as well, the changes they made, the adaptation that they made, they forced us to play again in a different area of the pitch and we had more problems after and to continue to play the way we played in the first half.

on Havertz’s performance:
So powerful but as well so intelligent. The way he occupies the spaces, the way he connects everything together, his work ethic and now he’s around the box and you have the feeling that he’s going to score a goal. The goal was superb, I think overall the performance was as good as from him, so really pleased with that.

on why Timber came off at half-time:
He was unbelievable in the first half but he felt something muscular and he was uncertain and I didn’t want to take any risks. He’s been out for a year, he’s played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we wanted in the last few weeks and we have to manage him.

on whether it’s too early to look at the Champions League table:
It’s too early. I think as well everyone has to play a lot of different and difficult games home and away, we have to adapt to that. We still don’t know how many points we need, the only thing you can focus on is the performance and try to win our own games, we did it tonight. Carry on doing it and now focus on the Premier League.

on the difference in jeopardy this season in the Champions League:
I don’t know, we all want to be at the very top to play less games and to have the capacity to have better draws. It’s going to be a long journey I think.

on Bukayo Saka’s confidence in our chances of success in this campaign:
The players feel that we are in the right direction, and they believe in what we do. It’s a great sign, it’s a night to be really happy because we played one of the best teams in the world. To be able to perform and win in the way we did, it’s a really good sign for the team.

on Mikel Merino’s debut:
Really good, because he joined us and first session he got injured. He had only one session with us, he was ready, he was really willing to be part of this today and obviously with the injuries and changes we had to make, we believe that he was the player that could help us in that phase. I think he’s done really well.

on what a win over a team like PSG can do for the squad:
I think it raises the confidence and belief that we can compete with any team at that level in European competitions, with the style of games that are very different to the Premier League. I think we showed a lot of maturity in the way we played and we put our stamp on the way that we want to behave in Europe against top teams and I really like that.

on Calafiori’s role in the team today:
He has the capacity to occupy different spaces, he’s really comfortable with that, he’s already done that in Italy and that’s why we signed him. First of all, he’s a great defender, he has this presence and energy and full commitment in the reaction that he does and he’s really brave. He doesn’t care in those situations, he wants the ball, he wants to make things happen with it and is happy to play in different roles.

on Declan Rice’s performances this season:
I am very happy. We have to understand the context of games that we played, for example last Saturday when we played here he was very dominant with the ball I think he created one of the best starts that they were producing in the Premier League but obviously we play different context and this player has got the capacity to play different games and still be very, very important for the team. Today we used him as a six in the second half, it’s a great quality that he has as well, he gives us so much.

on what differences he notices in this team from last season to this season:
I sensed them differently yesterday as well, when we were preparing the game and how they wanted it, the level of focus. I think they wanted to prove a point tonight against a top team at home, be ourselves and be very dominant as well. It’s another step, we have to continue to do that.

on building belief after beating big clubs:
I think so, it creates special European nights against big clubs. That belief is something that lifts the energy and the spirit of everybody. First of all it’s about believing you can face those incredible teams and have a really good chance to beat them, and you are good enough to beat them. I think it’s going to be really helpful.

on whether he was impressed with the level of control the team displayed:
I did, the result as well at half-time was similar to a few days ago and then what happened and managing that emotionally and staying in the game in the way that we had to do. I was really impressed and happy with that, even though there were still, especially in the second half, things that we can do much better.