Exceeded predictions
Mikel Arteta has admitted that a title push was unexpected and the aim was to finish in the top four.
The manager said: “We wanted to bring the club back to the Champions League, that was the main target.
“That was already a big demand, especially in the summer before we did certain things and before we managed to keep some of our players, the journey started by day we started to have a feeling the team is moving in the right direction, the spirit, the energy is good.
“You start to win a game two, three, and you start to generate some belief, obviously we didn’t expect to finish where we are, the third best ever record in the history of the club in terms of points, most wins ever.
“It’s a lot but it’s still not enough to win it, we understand where the level is and we really want to be the real deal.
“We don’t have to be happy with what we have and we have to be next season, much, much better.”
