Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has vowed that his team will come up with an improved performance to beat Bayer Leverkusen in the second-leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League. In the first-leg, the Gunners played a 1-1 draw while playing away on Wednesday.

After a goalless first half, Robert Andrich scored for Leverkusen right after the break. However, Kai Havertz scored for the visitors in the 89th minute through a spot-kick.

But the tourists were majorly disappointing for long periods in Germany as they could not bring their best to the pitch.

“[It is a reminder of] how difficult it is to win against any opponent in the competition and especially away from home,” Arteta told a news conference.

“There is a big factor there. Then you realise what we’ve done to win eight games in this competition [during the group stage], because it’s so tough that nobody did it before.

“Fully aware of that, we knew the importance of the game and the difficulty of the opponent and now we need to finish it in London.

“The level of execution obviously has to be better and it will be better in the second leg. We’ll adapt a few things and yes, we’ll move on.”

Meanwhile, Kai Havertz, who earlier played for Bayer Leverkusen, said his familiarity with the BayArena paid rich dividends.

“I know the stadium well and have taken many penalties from this spot,” Havertz said.

“The time between the penalty whistle and the penalty kick felt like an eternity. “But in the end, you have to be mentally present in those moments.”

Arsenal will next host Everton at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.