Arteta dismisses Premier League quality concerns, cites freshness as key factor

Mikel Arteta has dismissed suggestions that Premier League sides are incapable of matching the levels hit by their European rivals, saying that freshness was key to Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain producing arguably the game of the season in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. With the Arsenal manager stressing player availability will make the difference during a defining moment in the club's history, he argued that English football's competitiveness cannot be ignored when it comes to accusations that the quality of football has dropped. Arsenal have fought on four fronts during a draining campaign and Arteta, whose side have a number of injury problems before they hope to boost their title chances by beating Fulham on Saturday, pointed out that the domestic dominance of PSG and Bayern ensured they were in peak condition during their thriller in Paris on Tuesday. "When I look at that game, Bayern v PSG, it's probably the best game I ever witnessed in the quality of two teams and especially the individual quality the players delivered, I have never seen something like this," Arteta said. "But when I look at the amount of minutes and the freshness of those players, then I'm not surprised. "To deliver that much quality you have to be very fresh and the difference in the leagues and the way they compete is night and day. And you just have to see a lot of stats recently around it. We are comparing two different worlds. You cannot compare one part of that without any context around it, I don't think it's fair." Arsenal will go six points clear of City if they beat Fulham, although Pep Guardiola's side would have two games in hand on the league leaders. The Fulham game is sandwiched by Arsenal's Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid, which is locked at 1-1 before Tuesday's second leg, and there are concerns that Martin Ødegaard will exacerbate the absence of Kai Havertz and Jurriën Timber by also missing out with a knee problem. "Have every player available and fit at their best," Arteta said of lessons from previous title races. "C'est fini. With that, I'm a happy man. That's the most important thing. When you talk about the other two teams the other night [PSG and Bayern] – how many players were available? All of them, at their very best. That's the most important thing." Arteta hopes that Havertz will return to face Atlético at the Emirates Stadium. One boost for Arsenal is that Gabriel Magalhães is not serving a domestic ban. The Premier League's Key Match Incident panel has ruled that the defender should have been sent off for his clash with Erling Haaland during Arsenal's recent 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. Arteta, though, expressed surprise at the KMI's verdict on Gabriel, who only received a booking for the clash. "I don't think we are lucky," he said. There was a defiant tone from Arteta, who urged his players to embrace the challenge of trying to win the Premier League and the Champions League. "We know what's at stake," he said. "We need to push it. Everybody has to lead himself and take ownership of the moment because the impact that you can have in the moment now is going to define the history of the club. That's a very powerful thing."