Arsenal's reinvigorated Premier League push must be Mikel Arteta's priority - even if it means sacrificing their Champions League hopes

After a string of poor results that stretched across the Premier League and domestic cup competitions culminated in the damaging defeat at Manchester City, some might have expected Arsenal's title challenge - and indeed season - to unravel as it has done before at this late stage in proceedings. But Saturday's battling victory over Newcastle, an opponent that has inflicted some significant pain on them in the recent past, breathed much-needed new life into their push to claim a first league crown since 2004.

While many had already written the Gunners off, especially after City unseated them at the top of the table for the first time since October with the midweek victory over Burnley, this was a show of serious mental strength as Ebereche Eze's unstoppable early strike proved decisive at the Emirates. Arsenal had to come through some nerve-shredding moments, but ultimately claimed a vital three points, with many of the players collapsing to the floor while Arteta released his emotions in a big celebration at full-time that reflected just how intense the contest had been.

"I don't expect, after 22 years of not winning it, that it's going to be a path of roses and beautiful music around it," the head coach said in the wake of the victory. "It's going to be like this and we are ready for it."

Arteta, then, is under no illusions as to the scale of the task at hand in Arsenal's quest to end the agonising wait for a Premier League title. But before that quest resumes with another home clash, this time against Fulham, on Saturday, they face the first instalment of what is certain to be a gruelling battle against Atletico in the Champions League semi-finals.

With the race for the league crown on a knife edge, the timing couldn't really be worse. Simeone's side are renowned for their hard-running, physicality, dark-arts mastery and never-say-die approach, and they will be absolutely determined to take the Gunners the distance as they look to finally end their own European Cup hoodoo after coming so close on multiple occasions under the Argentine.

They absolutely thrive as underdogs and will be relishing the opportunity to test themselves against the team that has often been hailed as the best in Europe across the course of the campaign. The two-legged showdown, then, promises to be seriously bruising for the north Londoners both physically and mentally, and that's something Arteta must weigh up as he prepares his team for the cauldron that is the Metropolitano.

After all, Arsenal are already counting the cost of the hard-fought victory over Newcastle at the weekend after Kai Havertz was forced off in the first half with an apparent muscular problem and goal-scorer Eze had to be withdrawn in the second period with a similar injury. Martin Zubimendi was also replaced, with Arteta later revealing that he had been suffering with illness.

Despite the head coach's hope that the attacking pair would be available on Wednesday night in Madrid, Havertz sat out the Gunners' final training session at London Colney before their flight to the Spanish capital and was subsequently ruled out, joining Jurrien Timber in missing the trip to Spain. The German isn't expected to miss the run-in, though.

There was some positive news as Arteta confirmed on Tuesday that Eze was "ready to go" having avoided a serious issue, while Riccardo Calafiori has re-joined the group after a recent knock. You'd think Zubimendi will have recovered, too.

All of this points to the fact that the Arsenal squad is nearing it's physical limit after an exhausting season where they had been fighting on four fronts for months - one in which injuries have already been a huge hinderance, with as many as 19 first-team players missing at least one league game.

Arsenal and Arteta should be grateful that they are not facing one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain. Atletico seem to have phoned it in domestically, finding themselves way off the pace in La Liga after losing four of their last five league games, as well as the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad on penalties.

Los Colchoneros' quest to reach the Champions League semi-finals was also greatly aided by red cards in each leg for their domestic rivals Barcelona, and even then there were times when they looked like throwing the tie away.

While Atletico remain formidable opponents when they are on song, there is an opportunity for Arteta to take his chances and follow Guardiola's lead by rotating on the big stage, and that means leaning on those on the fringes of the starting line-up, such as Cristhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Norgaard, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and even 16-year-old Max Dowman.

These are back-up players who still have the quality to get Arsenal through the Atletico test, as long as the head coach trusts them. If they can get the job done over two legs, then Arteta will no longer have the huge distraction of the Premier League title race when the final rolls around on May 30, enabling him to shift focus one last time.

Much was made of Arsenal's strength in depth earlier in the season, heralded as the reason they were favourites for the title in the first half of the campaign. And so as injuries and fatigue really start to bite at a time where the pressure couldn't be higher, the time has come to really lean on that depth.

Arteta would do well to take a page out of his title rival and former mentor Pep Guardiola's book; the Catalan tactician made it abundantly clear where his priorities lie as he named a much-changed XI for Man City's FA Cup semi-final at the weekend. There were rare starts across the pitch, as cup 'keeper James Trafford replaced Gianluigi Donnarumma, the lesser-seen John Stones and Nathan Ake formed the centre-back partnership, Rayan Ait-Nouri began at left-back, Nico Gonzalez, Mateo Kovacic and Tijjani Reijnders made up the midfield three and Omar Marmoush led the line ahead of Erling Haaland, with Phil Foden flanking him.

The stakes might have been lower against second-tier Southampton ahead of kick-off, but when a second-string City were 1-0 down at Wembley with little more than 10 minutes to play, it became clear that Guardiola had been willing to sacrifice his side's FA Cup chance if it meant his key men would be fit and firing for what remains of the Premier League title chase, even if they did mount a dramatic late comeback to snatch a place in the final.

City's performance at Wembley and their narrow midweek victory against Burnley should serve as all the motivation Arteta needs to switch things up at the Metropolitano. Guardiola's men suddenly looked bereft of the recent swagger that has convinced many Premier League fans that they are primed to pip Arsenal to the title, and the workmanlike nature of both displays suggests they could yet drop points in their remaining games against Everton, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Aston Villa.

The Gunners must take advantage. Having seen off Newcastle at the weekend, the north Londoners still have a 72.44 percent chance of holding the Premier League trophy aloft come late May, per Opta, while City sit on 27.56%. With victory over Fulham on Saturday, they will have the psychological edge of a six-point lead at the top. Even if their title rivals hold two games in hand, it leaves Guardiola and Co. with absolutely no margin for error at a time where their performances just seem to have dropped off.

Arteta might have struggled to juggle Arsenal's priorities since the turn of the year, but it is crystal clear where the focus should lie as the Atletico tie looms; now is surely the time for the Gunners to put their Premier League push above all else, even if that comes at the expense of a first-ever Champions League crown.