With a Champions League quarter-final and a Premier League title charge on the horizon, Arteta is focused on ensuring this domestic cup exit does not derail their entire season. The Gunners are set to travel to Lisbon to face Sporting CP, and the boss believes the heavy schedule is no excuse for a drop in performance levels.
"Someone has to take responsibility. That's me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us," the Spaniard concluded. "I don't want to put any excuses around the players that are missing, or the players that are here with issues... Accept the situation, reveal against it, and go again to Portugal with, again, freshness, with clarity and looking forward to it."