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| Arsenal Head Coach Mikel Arteta during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg match between FC Bayern München and Arsenal FC at Allianz Arena on April 17, 2024 in Munich, Germany. |
Mikel Arteta says his Arsenal players are feeling the pain of their Champions League exit to Bayern Munich but insists it will not wreck their season.
The Gunners were knocked out at the quarterfinal stage as Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal in Wednesday's second leg to hand Bayern a 3-2 win on aggregate.
Arsenal face a quick turnaround with a trip to Wolves on Saturday as they aim to chase down Premier League leaders Manchester City with six games left to play.
Arteta said: "[The pain] is there. It's not going to go away certainly tonight but I can guarantee you by tomorrow we're fully focused on Wolves and everybody is lifted.
"What we still have to play for is beautiful. I said before it's time to be next to these players. It's easy to be behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and one draw. The moment is now to be behind them and be next to them."
Arsenal were edged out by a Bayern display in which their experience and knowhow came to the fore in a tie settled by a few key moments.
Arteta admitted afterwards that it may take several years for his players to learn the same street-smarts having only returned to Champions League football this season for the first time since 2017.
"We haven't played this competition for seven years and we haven't been in this stage for 14 years," said Arteta.
"There's a reason for it. We want to do everything fast forward, super quick in one season. I think we have the capacity and the quality to be in the semifinal because the margins are very small.
"Those margins are coming from something else that maybe we don't have yet. We have to learn it. When you look historically it took other clubs seven, eight or 10 years to do it. Today that's not going to make us feel better that's for sure."
Juventus are reviewing a decision made by an arbitration court which ordered the club to pay former striker Cristiano Ronaldo around €9.8 million ($10.46m) in owed wages, the Serie A side said on Wednesday.
Ronaldo, who now plays for Saudi side Al Nassr, had claimed he was owed around €19.5m ($20.81m) of outstanding wages by his former club relating to a pay cut agreed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The arbitration board ... ascertained the validity of [Ronaldo's] compensation reduction agreement in relation to the 2020/21 sporting season," Juventus said in a statement sent to Reuters.
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The arbitration tribunal ruled Juve had to pay half of the sum requested by the 39-year-old Portugal striker.
"They partially granted the request made by [Ronaldo] ..., ascertaining Juventus' pre-contractual liability resulting from the failure of negotiations and ordered the defendant to pay an amount of approximately Euro 9.8 million," Juve said.
"The Company, also with the support of its legal counsel, is reviewing the decision made by the arbitration board, reserving all assessments and initiatives to preserve its rights."
Ronaldo joined Juventus in August 2018 and helped them to two consecutive Serie A titles, an Italian Cup and two Super Cups, before leaving Italy to join Manchester United in 2021.
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