Arsenal will play for their fans against Wolves on Sunday following their disastrous Premier League collapse.
Eight points clear two months ago, Arsenal won only two of their last eight games, with their latest defeat to Nottingham Forest handing the title to Pep Guardiola’s unstoppable side.
“It’s a really sad day. We fell short,” a grim-faced Arteta told reporters after the 1-0 loss at the City Ground.
“I congratulate Man City. They are the champions, they deserved to win. I apologise because we have generated that belief that we could do it, but we were unable to and that is my responsibility.
“Today we should have played much better. We gave them a goal. When you come to April and May, you need 24 players playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go, and for many reasons we have not had that.”
Arteta has admitted it may take some time for his Arsenal side to get over their “painful” failure to land this season’s Premier League crown. The Gunners sat top of the table for 243 days, but a run of just two wins from their last eight outings (D3, L3) means they have been knocked off their perch.
Arsenal have history on their side against the visitors Wolves, to whom they have lost just three times since 1980.
Julen Lopetegui’s side are at risk of a fourth successive away defeat across one season for the first time since November 2012.
Wolves also head into the game with uncertainty surrounding Lopetegui’s future, despite taking the reins when they were bottom of the table in November and guiding the club to safety with games to spare.
The Spaniard is reportedly concerned about a lack of funds available to him this summer, where he would look to bolster the squad in a bid to land a top-half finish next season.
Did you know: Eight successive Arsenal home league games have produced three or more goals