Mikel Arteta fires shot at Manchester United & Spurs | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal for securing Champions League football and a likely second-place finish, firing a subtle shot at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the process.

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Arsenal mathematically secured Champions League football with a win over Newcastle United on Sunday, with a four-point gap to third place with only one match remaining.

The Gunners haven’t mathematically finished second yet, as sixth-place Manchester City have a game in hand. Should they win their final two fixtures, they could match Arsenal’s current tally of 71 points.

But Arsenal have a 10-goal advantage in goal difference and would likely need to lose heavily to relegated Southampton to finish below City on the final day. Realistically, a second-place finish is extremely probable.

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Reflecting on the season, Mikel Arteta insisted his team deserve his praise for maintaining high standards and not dropping down the table despite their injuries and issues with red cards in 2024/25.

“Make sure, as I said, that it doesn’t get blurry, and it doesn’t get recognised what we’ve done,” Arteta said. “Any other team, I’ve seen it with one injury to finishing eighth, fifth, 16th, 17th.

“What this team has done, in my opinion, to sustain the level throughout the season with everything that happened is incredible.

“We don’t want anybody to value [it], but me as a manager, I have to value what these guys have done.”

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The references to clubs dropping to 16th or 17th feel a little pointed, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur occupying those two positions with one game of the season remaining.

One of the two clubs will sneak into the Champions League with Europa League success later this week, but even that team will have a huge job on their hands to completely reverse their domestic form next year.

As for the team that loses, it will arguably be their worst season in many, many years.

Even with all of the obstacles Arsenal have faced this season, they’re not even close to dropping to that level. Arteta is right to highlight it.