Mikel Arteta has taken aim at Wayne Rooney’s claim Arsenal over-celebrated reaching the Champions League final by saying he will put the criticism “where it belongs”.
Arsenal will play Paris St Germain in the final in Budapest on May 30 after the Gunners saw off Atletico Madrid at an electric Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
The victory which sealed Arsenal’s first Champions League final in 20 years sparked wild celebrations on the pitch, with Arteta dancing alongside his jubilant players on the Emirates turf, and also off it, footage emerging of the players and staff, including co-owner Josh Kroenke, going wild inside the home dressing room.
Speaking after Arsenal’s 1-0 victory, Rooney, who won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, told Amazon Prime: “They (Arsenal) deserve to be in this position, but they haven’t won it yet. I think the celebrations are a little bit too much. Celebrate when you win.”
But when the criticism of the so-called ‘celebration police’ was put to Arteta on Friday, he laughed before saying: “First of all, I didn’t know about it. You have to respect every opinion and place them where they belong.”
Asked where he would place it, Arteta replied: “Where they belong…I don’t know. That’s not important.”
Arsenal will face PSG in the showpiece later this month following the Ligue 1 side’s aggregate victory over Bayern Munich.
Arsenal lost to PSG in both legs of their semi-final last season before the French champions demolished Inter Milan 5-0 to win the competition.
“We know the quality that they have,” said Arteta. “But obviously we’re very confident that when we get to that moment we’re going to deliver what we need to.”
Arsenal will now turn their attention back to taking their first Premier League title in 22 years with an away match at relegation-threatened West Ham on Sunday.
The Gunners lead Manchester City, having played a game more, but will see their advantage trimmed from five points to two if Pep Guardiola’s side see off Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
“We talked immediately after the game (on Tuesday) that this is great, what a moment, we earned it, and we will have time to prepare and get ready for that final,” Arteta added.
“I was in a very high emotional state after the game because we knew what it meant to everybody – our supporters, players and the staff.
“But you have to believe me, my concentration, my focus and my energy was then on West Ham and we made that very clear.
“We have to stay present, live in the moment and show the same level of energy, hunger and desire that we’ve shown all season and more. We are closer and closer, and everything that we do now is going to matter as to whether we win it or not.”
Jurrien Timber will not return for Arsenal’s match at the London Stadium, having been absent for nearly two months with a groin problem. Arteta had anticipated the defender’s injury would be short-term.
He added: “That’s probably been the most difficult thing to manage, with the player, with myself as well, because we didn’t expect it to take so long and at the moment he’s not fit to play.”
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