Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal won't dwell on past Champions League failures

The least said about Arsenal’s last Champions League knockout tie the better. Actually, their last two.

Try as they may to eradicate that harrowing 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in 2017 from their psyche, the embarrassing remnants of those two punishing 5-1 defeats linger.

In fact, the Gunners haven’t played in a Champions League quarter final since 2010, a stat Mikel Arteta would much rather forget given he played for the club for five years from 2011.

‘Someone called Messi was an obstacle as well and Bayern Munich that we faced twice,’ Arteta quickly pointed out as mitigation for those failures.

Finally, for Arsenal an opportunity to exorcise some demons. They face Porto here in Portugal on Wednesday night, heading into the first-leg last 16 tie as heavy favourites.

And while the pain of the past may still weight heavy, Arteta has ordered his players not to dwell on the past.

‘No I have not had any conversation related to that,’ said the Spaniard. ‘They know that we have not been in the competition, obviously some of them were here and they know the story.

‘And they know that what happened in the past is irrelevant, it is the challenge and ambition that we have now to go through.

‘It’s great (we are here). We have earned the right to be here. It’s been seven years since we’ve been at the top table for these kind off matches and 14 years since we were able to go to the next stage.

‘That’s the challenge. We know what is ahead of us but we are very excited to face it and to go for it with full believe, that’s for sure.’

He’s right, of course. As much as he may not like to admit it, the Arsenal teams he played in were on the wane - a club in need of re-energising.

The same can’t be said of the current outfit. This Arsenal side is fast-becoming the envy of Europe. Slugging it out with Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League title race and - barring an upset - on course for a place in the Champions League last eight.

‘Of course,’ responded Gabriel Magalhaes when asked if his side can complete a historic double.

‘The team is in a crescendo so I think we have learned a lot in the last few years and now we are at a very good level.

‘We can compete in any competition and I'm sure we are all focusing on tomorrow's match, the Champions League is a different feeling but we are prepared.’

Yet for all the optimism, Arteta, on the eve of one of the biggest nights of his managerial career so far, was at pains to warn his team of the pitfalls of complacency.

He said: ‘This competition is what it is; individual quality is extremely important. It comes down to details and you need your players at your best when the occasion arises.

‘Tomorrow [Wednesday] for sure we’ll need that. You know how tricky this is. You’ve been out of the competition for two or three months and you’re going to face a very different stage.

‘All the teams are very top and you have little time to prepare the games. The ball is rolling and you have to be ready because the teams are very prepared and dangerous.’

Indeed, Porto are third in the Portuguese top-flight, having lost just once in their previous eight. And in Brazil international Evanilson, they have a striker rapidly building a reputation as one of Europe’s best emerging marksmen.

‘He is a player I’ve been with a few times - he is a player with great quality,’ explained Magalhaes.

But, with all that said, it’d be a shock if Arsenal suffered more knockout pain in Portugal.