Mikel Arteta said Arsenal failed to make enough of their control in the 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen, while Noni Madueke admitted the visitors were below their usual level on the ball despite taking a positive result back to London.
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal did not do enough with their good moments in the 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen, after Kai Havertz’s late penalty rescued the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie. Arsenal were punished by Robert Andrich’s goal 46 seconds into the second half and looked set to return to north London behind, only for Havertz to score from the spot in the 89th minute on his return to the club where he spent 10 years.
Arsenal had spells of control in Germany, particularly in the first half, but Arteta’s view was that those periods were not converted into enough clear threat in and around the Leverkusen box.
Arteta points to the key first-half moment
Arteta also made clear that he felt the game could have looked very different had Arsenal taken one of their better first-half chances. Gabriel Martinelli struck the bar before the break, and speaking to TNT Sports, Arteta suggested that moment was significant in shaping the night.
"We started the game quite well, had a massive chance with Martinelli we hit the crossbar, in those moment if you score the game changes completed. We had a certain dominance, but we didn’t finish enough actions"
Instead, Arsenal were caught almost immediately after the restart. Andrich’s goal shifted the momentum and gave Leverkusen the kind of energy Arteta had wanted to avoid. The manager was particularly frustrated with the way Arsenal began the second half, saying: "We knew that they had set some routines because they done it a few days ago in the Bundesliga three times in a row. We showed those images but they actually have to see it and do it and we haven't done it and we paid the price for it.
That brought the match into a more difficult phase for Arsenal, but Arteta felt his side handled that moment properly. “After conceding we had to stay emotionally composed,” he said. It was a revealing line, because Arsenal were not at their most fluent after the goal, but they did remain in the tie long enough to find a way back.
Madueke admits Arsenal were below their level
Madueke’s post-match assessment was similarly honest. Speaking live on TNT Sports, the winger said: “There were certain things we could have done much better today, we know that, we’re the first to look in the mirror, but to draw in the last minute in the Champions League Round of 16 away to a top team, it’s a positive.”
That balance between criticism and perspective ran through all of his comments. Madueke accepted Arsenal were not sharp enough in key areas, especially in possession and in the final third, but he also pointed out the value of leaving Germany with the tie level.
“Just our basics, on the ball, we weren’t as good as we can be today, in terms of threatening in their box,” he said. “But these are all things that we’ll work on and I’m sure we’ll show that in London.”
Madueke also explained his own approach after coming off the bench with Arsenal trailing. “When you come on and your team is losing, it gives you that extra impetus to go and take risks,” he said. “That’s something I try to work on, when to go slow, when to go fast and try to mix it up as much as possible.”
Focus already turns to the Emirates
That was also the tone of Madueke’s message to Arsenal’s own media afterwards, with the winger saying he was “pumped” for what he expects to be an “amazing” atmosphere in the second leg at the Emirates. It is easy to see why. Arsenal were below their best in Germany, yet they still left with the tie level and home advantage to come.