Kai Havertz says the pain of crashing out of the Champions League at Bayern Munich last season has motivated Arsenal to improve their away form in Europe.
The Gunners were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage after losing in their second leg at Bayern Munich.
The 1-0 defeat typified Arsenal’s struggles away from home in Europe and, before last night’s 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon, they had won just one of their seven games on the road in the Champions League under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners had also scored just once in their last four European away games, but they emphatically ended that run against Sporting by scoring five on the road in the Champions League for the first time in 16 years.
“After last season’s loss against Munich we wanted to do better, especially [in] away games from home,” Havertz told TNT Sports. “Today we wanted to turn it around, show also that we can win games away from home. I think we did exceptionally today and we can be very proud of that.
“Everyone was involved. The way we played the way we competed today, was very good and I think we are very happy.
“I mean [Sporting giving Arsenal lots of space] was because we played very well. And we always found the space, the free men and had lots of solutions. I think we did very well.
“In the second half we suffered a bit in the first 15 minutes, but we turned it around. That’s why we won today.”
Arteta was delighted with Arsenal’s victory over Sporting Lisbon and hailed it as a landmark win.
“For sure,” he said. “Because the performance was there a few times when we have played big teams. We played PSG and we were exceptional again. We played Bayern and were exceptional. We made some mistakes and it cost us.
“Now it’s Inter, now it’s this level. That’s the level that we have to be able to cope [with].
“You have to make it happen and then that creates belief. It creates the next one and the players will be better prepared. And that’s what we need, the consistency, because the ability to do it is there.”
