LISBON, Portugal (AP) — After Arsenal's first consecutive losses this season — taking trophies out of play — coach Mikel Arteta wants his players to turn the pain of their last two results into gain.
Arteta has been drumming into his players to embrace their defeats in the FA Cup quarterfinals and English League Cup final and remember they're still contending in the Premier League and Champions League.
Their immediate focus was the Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday, and fighting off outside noise about yet another late-season swoon.
“What you have to be is clear,” he said on Monday. "Instead of panic understand if that happens why it happened, and bring clarity. And when you analyse that and you accept that you will be better. That's it, and that's the thing that we have to do.
"Have some perspective on how difficult it is. Feel that pain, feel that emotion, and use it to be better and to improve. There are a few things that we have discussed internally, and I’m very convinced that tomorrow we're going to see that.
“I know what it means to them and I know how much they want it. Now is the moment to show it, and we have to do it tomorrow at the highest level. We are hungrier than ever, very excited and very, very motivated.”
Arteta welcomed good news regarding the availability of defender Gabriel Magalhães, midfielder Declan Rice and forward Leandro Trossard for the match against Sporting.
They were among 10 Arsenal players who missed games for their national team over the international break because of various issues.
Arteta also said Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber did not travel to Portugal but was hoping they will be fit to face Bournemouth on Saturday in the Premier League. Arsenal has a nine-point lead over Manchester City.
The coach said he asked striker Viktor Gyökeres for some insight on his former club Sporting.
Gyökeres is making his first return to the club that turned him into a globally renowned striker.
“Of course I did (ask him for insights), just to understand the dynamic, the culture here, and to have more information about them that we can use in our favour," Arteta said. “They have a lot of qualities, what they’re doing is remarkable, and the record that they have at home is just incredible.”
Arteta said he felt Gyökeres was “very excited” about his return to play Sporting.
“He’s full of gratitude for his time here,” Arteta said. "(You can tell from) the way he talks about the club, the players, the staff, everybody around the club. The experience that he had in Sporting was such an important part of his journey.”
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Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli reacts during the English FA Cup quaterfinal soccer match between Southampton and Arsenal in Southampton, England, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English FA Cup quaterfinal soccer match between Southampton and Arsenal in Southampton, England, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, faces war crime charges on allegations that he killed five unarmed Afghans while serving in Afghanistan from 2009 and 2012, police and media reported on Tuesday.
Police have not confirmed the name of the 47-year-old former soldier who was arrested Tuesday. But he has been widely reported in the media to be Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan.
Police charged him Tuesday with five counts of war crime murder. He will remain in custody overnight and make his first court appearance on Wednesday, a police statement said.
He will potentially apply for release on bail Wednesday.
Roberts-Smith is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.
Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz, 44, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of war crime murder. He is accused of shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad three times in the head in an Uruzgan province wheat field in May 2012.
War crime murder carries a potential sentence of life in prison. It's a federal crime in Australia, defined as the intentional killing in the context of armed conflict of a person who is not taking an active part in hostilities, such as civilians, prisoners of war or wounded soldiers.
Police arrested Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport on Tuesday after he arrived on a flight from Brisbane, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
“It will be alleged that the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan. It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed,” Barrett told reporters, referring to the Australian Defense Force.
“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the ADF in the presence of and acting on the orders of the accused,” Barrett added.
A civil court has already found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith credible in a defamation suit he brought after several newspapers published articles in 2018 accusing him of a range of war crimes. In 2023, a federal judge rejected Roberts-Smith’s claims and ruled that he likely killed four noncombatants unlawfully in 2009 and 2012. But while the civil court found the war crimes allegations were mostly proved on a balance of probabilities, the new charges would have to be proved in a criminal court to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt. In September, Australia’s High Court said it would not hear an appeal, ending his chances of overturning the ruling.
The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian SAS and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and other noncombatants.
Barrett said few soldiers were involved in the new allegations.
“The alleged conduct related to these charges is confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF which helps keep this country safe,” Barrett said.
“The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud. Today’s charges are not reflective of the majority of members who serve under our Australian flag with honor, with distinction and with the values of a democratic nation,” she added.
The Office of the Special Investigator was established to work with police on the war crime allegations. The office’s director of investigations Ross Barnett said allegations of 53 war crimes had been investigated and 39 of those investigations had concluded without charges. Around 40,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, of whom 41 were killed.
FILE - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Corp. Ben Roberts-Smith from Australia, who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross, during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Nov. 15, 2011. (Anthony Devlin/Pool via AP, File)
FILE - Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney, Australia, on June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett speaks to media during a press conference following the arrest of former Australian soldier in Sydney, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
