MIKEL ARTETA has taken aim at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Arsenal skipper spurned a number of chances against Olympiacos on Thursday.
The Gunners limped through to the quarter-finals despite losing 1-0 to the Greek outfit at the Emirates as they won 3-2 on aggregate.
Arsenal somehow failed to get on the score sheet as they missed a number of opportunities, with striker Aubameyang wasteful on four occasions.
And Arteta has stated that he hopes the Gabon international isn’t thinking about the weekend after he was dropped against Tottenham for disciplinary reasons.
Aubameyang was an unused substitute in the 2-1 North London derby victory after he turned up late for the game on Sunday.
Commenting on Aubameyang’s missed chances against Olympiacos, Arteta said: “I hope the weekend isn’t still on his mind.
“We moved on, he started and we expect when he does play he performs at the level he can.
“We had a tough opponent, we knew that, we knew that they weren’t going to give up, so happy to be through.
“But at the same time we have to be fair with ourselves and today we were nowhere near the levels that we have to set ourselves.
“It has been a really demanding week but I don’t think we have to use any excuses.
“We have refreshed the team, we have players that they were fresh, and we know the importance of the competition.”
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Arteta’s side have been handed a favourable route to the final, but they must first get past Slavia Prague.
The Czech Republic outfit are aiming to knock out a third British team this term having beaten Rangers and Leicester in the previous rounds.
Should Arsenal reach the semi-final, they will come up against either Dinamo Zagreb or Villarreal, who are coached by former boss Unai Emery.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
