Comment: Spurs gambled Euro glory at expense of the league, Arsenal should do the same

PRAYING FOR GLORY: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts on the touchline during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

It may sound crazy given that Arsenal have the opportunity to affix a red and white mitt on the Premier League trophy on Sunday but it is Tottenham that the Gunners need to emulate right now.

A 0-0 draw at home to Sporting Lisbon was just enough to earn Mikel Arteta's domestic wobblers the right to fight Atletico Madrid for a place in the Champions League final.

But the fact that the Gunners had to scrap for every minute nothing but good news for Manchester City and their free week to prepare for the showdown at the Etihad in three days' time.

Also apparent was the fact that the Gunners still don't look like a side capable of spinning early season prowess into actual silverware, but this is where the Tottenham parallel comes in.

Last year, or three managers ago if you want to measure it that way, Ange Postecoglou decided he would gamble on Euro glory at the expense of the Premier League - and Arteta should do the same.

Yes, it would be a joyous occasion to win the league for the first time in 22 years, even if they have to limp over that line playing attritional football. It will be a sweet enough feeling given that trio of second-place finishes. Extra special, too of course, if Tottenham go down.

But here's the thing. Arsenal have won the Premier League before, three times in fact, and were Football League champions 10 times before its creation. Win it in 2025-26 and Arteta will merely be emulating Arsene Wenger, George Graham, Bertie Mee and Herbert Chapman. The Champions League however...

Is a trophy the Gunners have never won. Never really come close to winning either; not since Jens Lehmann saw red 18 minutes into the 2006 final, their only appearance so far in the last-two.

Big clubs win the Champions League, even sometimes when they are not even at their biggest. Upstarts like PSG and Manchester City made it their top target and went on to achieve their dream while Arsenal looked on, powerless to intervene.

Now, though, the chance is there for Arsenal to make history. Postecoglou realised it this time last year when the Europa League was there for the taking for Tottenham. A much easier competition to win, granted, but he gambled and won, though it cost him his job. He called it - "I always win a trophy in my second season" - and then he pulled it off.

Will Arteta be as bold? Unlikely, for all his pre-match talk of "bringing fire" to the Sporting game. A man accused of a penchant for leaving the 'handbrake' on will most likely try to stifle City at the Etihad on Sunday in the hope of getting the draw that will preserve their still-healthy lead over Pep Guardiola's form horses. Or nicking the win that would extinguish City's recently rekindled hot streak altogether.

Concentrating on Europe would be a sensible move as well as a bold one though. For it has been increasingly clear for a while that Arteta's battle-scarred unit is weary in mind as well as leg.

Neither Bukayo Saka or Jurrien Timber made the bench despite hopes that at least one could feature, at a time when Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, and Riccardo Calafiori are sidelined.

Declan Rice had been one of a number of stars running on empty in the 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. "He's played a lot of games and that's part of the issue," Arteta admitted before kick-off. Rice, unable to train on Tuesday, started, nevertheless.

There was more bad news for Arteta on the hour mark when Noni Madueke was felled by a poor challenge and the England winger had to go off, potentially making Saka's return even more of a priority.

A yellow card for something he said to referee Francois Letexier betrayed the Spaniard's frayed nerves even further but at least his players got the job done.

City have prospered because they no longer have midweek Euro trips and, in all likelihood, will make that count on Sunday. Fighting on four fronts proved counterproductive for Arsenal and there is a risk now that going for the toughest of Doubles will have the same detrimental effect on a club without any silverware for six years.

So, concentrate solely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Gunners. It's about time you joined the European top table - and you may not have a better chance than right now.

'History in Our Sights' screamed a huge tifo that popped up just as the Champions League anthem was about to blare and that remains the case.

Premier League glory can wait, if it has to.