Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attributes Lionel Messi’s individual brilliance as one of the contributing factors to the Gunners’ failure to progress beyond the Champions League last 16 since 2010.
During Arteta’s playing career at Arsenal, the team was eliminated in the last 16 in all five seasons he spent at the club. This trend continued in the year before his arrival in 2011 and persisted in the year following his retirement in 2016, resulting in seven consecutive exits in the initial knockout stage.
As Arsenal’s current manager, Arteta dismissed the notion of a mental block but emphasized the impact of extraordinary individual talents like Messi and teams such as Bayern Munich in the competition.
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Responding to the question of a mental block, Arteta stated, “Yeah, and someone called Messi. And Bayern Munich as well – this competition is where it is, individual quality. It’s extremely important because sometimes it comes down to details, you are through or you are out, and you have to be really prepared, and you need your players at their best when the occasion arises, and for sure, we’re going to need that.”
Arteta recounted instances where Messi played a decisive role in Arsenal’s elimination, notably in 2011 when Barcelona, led by Messi, secured a 4-3 aggregate victory despite Arsenal winning the home leg 2-1. Messi also starred in 2016, scoring three times over two legs as Barcelona comfortably progressed.
Arsenal faced additional last-16 defeats against AC Milan (2012) and Monaco (2015), while Bayern Munich eliminated them in 2013, 2014, and 2017. The latter period marked the beginning of a six-year absence from the Champions League, eventually overcome with a renewed challenge for the Premier League title in the 2022/23 season, finishing in second place.