THE last time Everton faced Portuguese opposition, Mikel Arteta was holed up in a Barcelona hotel room having undergone a second of three knee operations.

And the pain of surgery was compounded by the acute sense of embarrassment the Spaniard felt at what he was watching on the television screen.

No wonder. With Arteta among a whole host of players missing through injury, David Moyes’s side were comprehensively dismantled 5-0 by Benfica in the Stadium of Light.

That October evening was a chastening experience for everyone at the club, including those that were reduced to watching a live broadcast through their fingers.

Now Arteta is back in the first-team fold and determined to help Everton give a better account of themselves when they entertain Lisbon’s other major side, Sporting, in tonight’s Europa League round of 32 first leg tie.

Certainly, that Benfica defeat still weighs heavily on the mind of the Spanish schemer.

“After my second surgery I was watching in the hotel and thinking that it would be a good game,” says Arteta. “We had a few injuries before the game and a few young lads had to come in and play at the last minutes.

“Watching the game, I was embarrassed. We weren’t good that night, and I hate when we portray an image like that in Europe, because that is not us. It was bad.”

Fortunes have changed markedly for Everton since that night, with the Goodison outfit having lost just one of their last 11 league games to rekindle hopes of a fourth successive European qualification.

And Arteta believes that form means Moyes’s men have nothing to fear from any of the other teams left in the Europa League.

“Tuesday is a special game as this is the only way we can get a trophy this year and that is something we are desperate to do,” says the Spaniard.

“There are big teams in the Europa League this year, but I feel we are can compete with any of them at the moment.

“If we get everybody fit then we have the best team we have had during my time at the club. We are in a good position to do something between now and the end of the season.

“Can we get into the European qualification places again? We can try. Two months ago, people weren’t even talking about that.

“But if we go on a terrific run then we would have a chance. But it would need to be a terrific run.”