Arteta desperate to beat 'role model' Simeone
Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal has no intention of settling for a draw against Atletico Madrid, whose coach Diego Simeone is a "role model" for the Gunners boss.
Arsenal visits the Estadio Metropolitano for the first leg of its Champions League semi-final tie on Thursday, before hosting the return fixture next wednesday.
Arsenal and Atleti are the two teams that have played the most European Cup or Champions League matches without ever lifting the trophy, with the Gunners on 223 and Los Colchoneros on 190.
The Gunners, who returned to the top of the Premier League table with a nervy 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, are unbeaten in their last 12 Champions League games.
If they avoid defeat in the Spanish capital, they will match their longest-ever unbeaten run in Europe's premier club competition, having reached the 2006 final – which they lost to Barcelona – off the back of a 13-match streak between March 2005 and April 2006.
Arteta believes his team has shown enough quality this season to be confident of an away win.
"This is the stage that we want to be at, and we have earned it through incredible work, passion and quality in the last nine months," he said.
"Now is the moment to make a statement and show how good we are, how much we want it, and to make it happen. The opportunity is in front of us and we have to attack it.
"We have prepared the game to win it. There's no question about that. We know the difficulty of the match, but I think we have shown in Europe, at any ground, what we are capable of.
"We've been very consistent and tomorrow we have to play with that confidence, with that desire and that will. We have to come here to win the game."
Arteta heaped praise upon his opposite number Simeone, who has already led Atletico to two Champions League showpieces during his stellar, 17-year reign, losing to cross-city rival Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016.
"Well, I think with a lot of work he's carried out, he has transformed the club in 15 years," Arteta said of Simeone. "The way he has done it, I have always had admiration for these kinds of people. He is very connected to the club. He is an absolute role model."
Arsenal and Atleti have already faced off once this season, with the Gunners earning a thumping 4-0 win at the Emirates in a league-stage game in October.
That was Atleti's joint-heaviest defeat in UEFA's top competition, having lost by four goals on five occasions.
