Football allows little room for sentiment, but **Mikel Arteta**could take time in his pre-match presser to reflect upon the significance of the Basque Country for his career. He respects Athletic Club and their manager as part of his professional journey, and he is "glad to be back" in the place where it all began.
‘I hope it will be a good match’
**Arsenal**hosted the Basque outfit at the Emirates Stadium and the players eased to a 3-0 victory in the Emirates Cup in early August. However, Arteta is not resting on his laurels ahead of this fixture.
*“No. It was useful to obtain information and have a good feeling after the match, but we know that this will be a different world. This is the Champions League, the level of both teams will rise, the context will be different and it’s going to be a very different game. I hope we get the result we want.”*
The high press is a core element of their identity, and Arteta explained how he plans to respond.
“When they do that, get out of pressure as effectively as possible and try to use spaces. They change the way they play a great deal depending on the context of the match and who they’re playing against, very often. So we have to try to adjust things. We’re aggressive, and I hope it will be a good match.”
In their third year of **Champions League,**football under Arteta, the Gunners will want to show that they are continuing to mature and can handle all types of challenges on the biggest of stages.
“Obviously, they’ll try to do what they want. It’s an extremely dangerous team when they do that, and at home, they have the capacity to do that in different ways. We want a very different kind of match to what they want, and as usual, we’ll try to defuse their quality and use our best players and play.”
‘He’s always been a reference’
This meeting means a lot to a man who was born in San Sebastian and spent half a season at the opposition's rival, Real Sociedad, in their first team. The boss reflected on his return to the region.
“I’m very glad to be back. It’s been 20 years since I was here professionally, obviously in a different role, and I very much wanted to come and experience the atmosphere in this stadium and to face a rival that’s going to be very difficult, very demanding, but I’m very excited.”
He has earned high praise for his efforts from his counterpart in the home dugout. Ernesto Valverde is an iconic figure at Athletic Club, and he has inspired Arteta on his own journey as a manager.
“First of all, I’d like to thank him for his words. He’s always been a reference for several reasons. Firstly, he’s been in this profession for over 20 years and everywhere he’s gone, he’s left two things.”
There are two qualities in the 61-year-old that stand out to Arteta from his two decades as a manager.
“First of all, successes in the clubs he worked for and the mark he made in the way he behaves, the humanity he shows and now how natural he is. Above all, I think that there’s a way of doing things that puts him apart from many other managers. So what I need to do is learn from him and improve.”