Mikel Arteta has disclosed that Arsenal's composed response to a Champions League travel delay earlier this week was no accident — the Arsenal manager deliberately engineers similar disruptions during pre-season to mentally prepare his squad for the unexpected.

The Premier League champions were caught up in air traffic control problems as they flew to Italy ahead of their midweek fixture against Napoli on Wednesday, arriving some three hours behind schedule. Rather than treating the setback as an excuse, Arteta says it was exactly the kind of situation he trains his players to handle.