Arsenal’s Arteta downplays all the tension after a heated confrontation last weekend and says his love for the Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is still the same.
Last Sunday John Stones rescued a point in the dying seconds of stoppage-time to steal a point in a 2-2 draw against 10-man Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, creating huge turmoil after the final whistle.
Arteta’s side has been back-to-back runners-up to City in the Premier League for the past two seasons, and this year the ambitions are more than ever.
The North London side put on an untiring show holding on to 3 points, but their best efforts were disrupted by their rivals in the 97th minute.
Moreover, Pep’s side struggled to penetrate through Arsenal’s defensive wall, which gave way for Stones and team-mate Bernardo Silva to accuse the north Londoners of their “dark arts” style.
A few years back Arteta worked under Guardiola as assistant at City. But the Arsenal envelope took the Spaniard to the next step in his career and despite all the talks around his relationship with his fellow Spaniard will not be affected.
“I love him, I respect him and I admire him, his team, and everything that he does,” he said Friday, on the eve of his side’s match against Leicester.
“This is a sport — one thing is our profession and the other is our personal relationship.
“If my relationship has to be damaged because we play against each other and one draws or the one wins, or the amount of times that we have lost then I wouldn’t talk to him anymore.”
The reporters asked Arteta whether maintaining the friendship gets harder when games turn more serious as both aim to claim the ultimate prize. For which he said
“It’s quite simple — don’t take it personally, it’s part of our job,”
“The things that you really care about, make sure you handle them in the right way.”
“That relationship, I really care about. It’s the same with a lot of people in their staff and players that I spent some very important years of my life with.”
Next week Arsenal travel to Paris Saint-Germain for the Champions League after facing Leicester City, however, their first-choice goalkeeper David Raya is doubtful for the clashes after picking up an injury against City.
“We have to wait 24 hours to see if he’s looking good or not that good”, he said.
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