Here is every word Mikel Arteta said during his post-match press conference after Arsenal beat Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Champions League at the Emirates Stadium
22:42, 28 Jan 2026Updated 22:48, 28 Jan 2026
Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta faces the press after his side beat Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Champions League
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Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta reacts ahead of the UEFA Champions League football match between Arsenal and Kairat Almaty at the Emirates Stadium in north London on January 28, 2026. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)(Image: Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta spoke to the press after Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League victory over Kairat Almaty at the Emirates Stadium. Despite scoring three times, they conceded two, which prevented them from achieving the record of eight successive wins by two clear goals.
Kai Havertz had a brilliant return with both a goal and an assist, and could have had another, which Viktor Gyokeres’ mishit shot instead ended up being put in by the intended target, Gabriel Martinelli. Arsenal’s potential opponents for the last-16 are Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Olympiacos.
Gyokeres had a mixed night and will face plenty of scrutiny despite scoring. While Arteta gave two youngsters, Ife Ibrahim and Brando Bailey-Joseph, senior debuts.
Here is every word from the Arsenal manager’s press conference:
On the result?
Yes, I'm very proud of all the players and the run that we had in this first stage of the competition. Very difficult to win eight games in a row in the Champions League, and you can see what happened with all the teams, so we really need to acknowledge that. Today's game, with a lot of changes as well, started in a really good way.
The attitude, I think, was spot-on from everybody, and we demanded that, disappointed with the two goals that we conceded, and as well with the level of efficiency, because we should have scored many more in the game, but I think it was a good way to end the competition in the first half.
Great to have Kai Havertz back
Yeah, that's a very positive thing as well, individually, getting Richy back as well after the injury. Kai, not only bringing him in, I think the quality that he showed, the way he connected with the team, the goal that he scored, the assist that he made in the first half, a really positive performance.
Because you've got Gabriel Jesus, something to go for him now as strikers, do you see Kai playing a lot in that ten position going forward?
Yeah, he can play in both. I think right, left, attacking midfielder or nine, it doesn't change too much for him, depending on the position and the relationship that we have around him and players that are available as well. We made those decisions, the good thing is that he's fit, he's available and he's going to give us so much.
Is he now ready to play Premier League minutes, and is he OK because he came on for half-time and Calafiori as well?
No, he's fine. That's what we planned, 45 minutes, we wanted to start him as well so he could do all the process before that in the best possible way, and from now on we'll have to make a decision whether he starts or not in those competitions.
Do you feel like he'd be ready to start at Leeds on Saturday, and how much do you imagine Kai would be knocking on your door saying, I'm ready to start at Leeds?
For sure he wanted to continue playing today so I know what is coming tomorrow.
Those eight wins in a row mean that you guarantee the second leg of every knockout round you qualify for will be at home, how much of an advantage is that for you and Arsenal?
In principle, on paper, something positive, the main thing was to avoid another two games with the schedule that we have already, and then make the most out of it. We have to wait and see who our next opponent is going to be, and in the meantime, we're going to be so busy with the other competitions.
In terms of Kai Havertz's profile, what have Arsenal missed when he was out?
Well every player has unique qualities, Kai is a player that gives us so much versatility and threat from different positions, because he's a unique player in the areas he can occupy and the way he gets associated with other players, and he's a player that understands so well the league, what we want to do, he copes really well with pressure as well and with different demands and he's a player that is going to be really important in this second part of the season.
Just going back to that eight wins from eight, you're of course the first team to do that in Champions League history, does that mean anything to you? I know you know Steve Kerr quite well, is it a bit 73-9 Golden State Warriors, is it an important thing to you to be the first team to do that, or is it just about winning a trophy at the end?
Yeah, at the end that shows that we can consistently perform at this level and if it's the first time it means how difficult it is to do it, so the players need to acknowledge that and feel even more conviction about what we're able to do. But that's it, now the competition stops, we have a period of reflection as to what we've done, we're going to start to prepare when we know our next opponent, what is next, and that's it. And then go game by game because you know that this competition, an action and a moment can change the whole story and we are very conscious of that.
Could you please tell us your opinion about the keeper, Temirlan Anarbekov? I think his game was quite good today, and just you know, this guy is like a big prospect in Kazakhstan, and do you think that he can make it in the future in the top five or something like that?
I don't know, he did have a good performance today and a few very strong performances in the games that I've seen and apart from that, I don't think it's for me to judge what can happen in the future for him.
Just another one on Kai, obviously he's had a really difficult year, he has had two big injuries, I know you've spoken about him already but just how pleasing is it for you to see him be able to do what he did today and also for him going forward that he's proven to himself that he's still got that in his locker?
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Well it's going to give him a lot of confidence, joy, energy and to the team as well because the team knows how important Kai is for us and how we can help the team to be much better and take the team to a different level so the fact that he was able today to do that after such a long time is very impressive so bring him on board and make sure that now we use him in the right way because it's going to be very important.