Arsene Wenger says Arsenal must respond to a disappointing seven days with a “good week”, starting against Swansea City on Wednesday.
The Gunners lost against Barcelona in their Champions League last-16 first-leg tie, before their Premier League title challenge was dented by a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United five days later.
Arsenal are now five points adrift of league leaders Leicester City but, with games against Swansea and Tottenham Hotspur this week, Wenger believes it is the perfect opportunity for his side to get back on track.
"We have come out of a bad week so we want to have a good week now"
Arsene Wenger
“What we want to do is defy all the odds that are against us at the moment,” he said. “The best way to do it is to fight together for that. We have come out of a bad week so we want to have a good week now.
“It’s as simple as that and that’s why you love competition. A bad week is not permanent, it’s what you make of it and how you respond. That’s the beauty of sport. Things change quickly one way or the other. That’s beautiful as well.
“We are professional and we want to focus on how we respond to the defeat. It can happen. We lost 3-2 at Manchester United, we are not happy with the result but if you analyse the game we had two lapses of focus that we paid for. That made the game difficult for us after.
“We gave a lot against Barcelona and the disappointing outcome certainly had an impact on our belief against Manchester United, but we want to focus on the positives and recover from it. We want to give our best from now until the end of the season.”
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