Arteta on Carabao Cup defeat to City: "It's like a ball of poison, it won't go away for 30 years"

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has admitted that the emotional toll of the Gunners' defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final was immense and will haunt him for decades.

Arsenal's dreams were dashed last month as two second-half goals from Nico O'Reilly secured the Carabao Cup for City. Despite the Gunners' excellent form, currently topping the Premier League, Pep Guardiola's side proved too strong in the Wembley final.

The loss left a deep wound at the North London club, with Arteta using the international break to process the result, urging his players to channel their disappointment into motivation for the final stretch of the season.

The Spanish coach insisted that the memory of the defeat must serve as a lasting lesson for his team.

"At the beginning, it's like a ball of poison you have in your stomach," Arteta confessed, as reported by "The Guardian." "You have to get it out as quickly as possible. How can I use this to get better, to make the team better?"

"There's a part that I believe has to stay and it's not going to go away for the next 30 years. Because when you have the chance to win a final at Wembley, you have to do it. That has to stay there. And that's part of who you're going to be in the next weeks, the next months, the next years. Learn from it and make sure that fire stays in your soul," he added.