Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of the Gunners' UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinal second-leg tie against Bayern Munich.

The North London outfit have not typically faired well in Munich, having lost 5-1 in their two most recent trips to the German giants in this competition.

Despite this poor track record, Arteta insisted that the game is an "opportunity" for Arsenal to once again change history:

"We have to change it [Arsenal's poor record against Bayern Munich] and the opportunity comes. There is a lot of things that we can do to write our story very differently tomorrow, we know that.

"And it's going to be about putting a very, very strong performance, collective and individually, to earn the right to be in the semi-final."

  • Arsenal's approach

Given how the Gunners counteracted league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last month, some people have suggested that Arsenal will sit back against Bayern Munich, but Arteta insisted he wants his players to be themselves:

"[It is] Depending as well on their approach – for sure, I want my team to be ourselves, regardless of the stadium.

"Sometimes you want to do certain things and the opponent doesn’t allow you to do it, and we’re going to be very clear how we’re going to play the game, how we want to play the game, and what is going to give us the best chance to win it."

  • Arteta's expectations

Arteta also offered an insight into what he is expecting from his players ahead of a game that will be pivotal for the Gunners' season:

"A performance that puts us in the Champions League semi-final. All the preparation have been to achieve that, and earn it.

"We have been ready for 10 months and everything we did last season to start that journey in the Champions League after so many years, and tomorrow we have an unbelievable opportunity to make it happen."

  • The mood in the dressing room

After a devastating 2-0 home defeat against Aston Villa, which signalled a massive dent in Arsenal's Premier League title hopes, Arteta has insisted that the squad are focused ahead of this new test:

"We’ve thrown the game away and the one we played a few days ago because regardless of that result it’ll have no impact on what’s going to happen tomorrow.

We'll refocus and start to build the confidence, trust and understanding for the performance that we have to put in tomorrow to beat them and be through in the tie."

  • Dealing with emotion and pressure

Ahead of the game, Arteta was asked whether he will instruct his players to take the associated emotion out of the game, but the Spaniard insisted that such feelings can also bring about positives:

"Emotion is needed in football, it’s about tweaking it and touching the right buttons at the right time for the team to always be stable, and be hyped when it has to be hyped.

"I think we did that really well in London because after scoring the first goal in the game, we had a big chance to score the second one, and then in 5-10 minutes they are ahead and were in control.

"We were mature not to throw everything away in that moment, found our rhythm and our moment to score a really good goal, and the reaction of the team was straight away to score the third one."

The manager also said that he is looking to turn any potential pressure his youthful squad may feel into motivation, saying:

"Most of our players haven’t experienced a night like this and it’ll be their first one.

"They’ll be super motivated, they are prepared and confident and it’s something that tomorrow we have to show against an opponent that has experience, but we’ve got to make it happen.

  • Team news

Arteta also offered a brief update on the fitness of Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Ødegaard:

"Hopefully [they will be available]. We’ve had less than 48 hours to recover from the game and we’ve had very little training, so we will assess them tomorrow and see how they are."

Ukrainian fullback Oleksandr Zinchenko has come under fire from large sections of the Arsenal fan base in recent weeks owing to perceived poor performances, but Arteta issued a strong defence of the 27-year-old:

"We love Alex [Zinchenko], he’s given us so much, he’s given us a lot and he’s up there with different qualities. He has an unbelievable courage to play football given the circumstances, and as well as the demands.

"Stay with our players and support them because, for sure, they’re going to perform better."

Arteta was also questioned on Zinchenko's future, as he nears the last two years of his current contract, but the manager's focus was clearly elsewhere for the time being:

"The decision is to be focused on the Champions League quarter-finals tomorrow."