Mikel Arteta. Newcastle. St James’ Park heartbreak.It’s a ground where the Arsenal boss has suffered countless moments of footballing misery at – both as a player and as a manager.Newcastle’s St James’ Park has been a bogey ground for Arsenal boss ArtetaGettyThe Spaniard takes his side to Tyneside on Sunday with the Gunners looking to bounce back with a win following last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City.Picking up ten points from a possible 15 on offer so far this season, the north London giants know they cannot afford to slip up in their quest to catch leaders Liverpool.But unfortunately for Arteta, he is taking his team to a stadium that has not held much luck for him – and the club.What happened to Mikel Arteta at Newcastle?In 2009, St James’ Park was the venue for his most painful experience during his playing days – both physically and mentally. Plying his trade for Everton, Arteta had chipped in with seven goals and eight assists in 31 games in all competitions in the 2008/09 term.Prior to the ill-fated February 22 fixture, he had scored in the Toffees’ 3-0 win over Bolton.His fine form had seen him named on Vicente del Bosque’s preliminary Spain squad for the first time, with Arteta on the cusp of a dream senior debut.But just three minutes into the clash at Newcastle he ruptured his cruciate knee ligament – resulting in him leaving the pitch on a stretcher.Arteta was ruled out for the rest of the season, and he didn’t make his return until January 2010.He would never get as close to playing for Spain again.Arteta suffered a serious knee injury just minutes into Everton’s clash in Tyneside in 2009GettyHis knock came just days before he was due to make his Spain’s senior debutGettyArteta recently commented on his heartbreak at missing out on Spain selection when speaking to talkSPORT’s Ally McCoist for TNT Sports.He said: “It’s all about timing, and two things happened. One is obviously we had the best generation of midfielders probably ever.“Xabi Alonso, [Sergio] Busquets, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [David] Silva…“And then when I had the chance to go, that’s when I got injured with my ACL and I was going to go the following week with the national team.“So that’s it, it wasn’t meant to be. I had all the great experience, but it’s certainly something that I would have loved to have been a part of.”On his road to recovery, Arteta remarked: “I went through a lot of things very early in my career, but that one [ACL] is when I really had the sense of, ‘Can I play football again?’Arteta required three surgeries before he was able to step foot back on the pitchAFP“Because it was not only the ACL, it was the three main things in your knee that went away, I had three surgeries, I had a big infection in my knee.“But it was probably the time that I learned the most in my career.“And that’s the area where everything started about then becoming one day a coach or a manager.”How has Arteta fared at St James’ Park as Arsenal boss?Newcastle have proven to be a bogey team for Arsenal in recent years.While Arteta won in each of his first five fixtures against the Magpies, he has overseen just three victories in the last nine head-to-head meetings in all competitions.Arsenal have lost five times in this period – with only Manchester City [eight] and Liverpool [seven] beating them more than Newcastle under Arteta’s tutelage.Arteta has lost in four out of his last five visits to St James’ Park in all competitionsGettyArteta experienced his first heartbreak as a manager at St James’ Park in May 2022, with Newcastle prevailing as 2-0 winners in the penultimate game of the season.Victory would have seen Arsenal leapfrog above rivals Tottenham Hotspur into fourth spot, with the defeat ultimately costing Arsenal a Champions League spot.His next disappointment away at Newcastle would come in November 2023, with Anthony Gordon scoring the game’s only goal in what turned out to be a hugely controversial winner.The ex-Rangers star believed the goal should have been ruled out – first for believing the ball to be out of play in the build-up – while also feeling that Gabriel was fouled, and Gordon subsequently found the back of the net.He labelled the decision to allow the goal to stand as ’embarrassing’ and a ‘disgrace’, while declaring he feels ‘ashamed’ by the standards of refereeing.Arsenal ultimately rallied behind Arteta with a statement where they urged the PGMOL to ‘address the standard of officiating’.Only City and Liverpool have beaten Arteta’s Arsenal more than NewcastleGettyArteta was subsequently charged by the FA with misconduct over his explosive rant, before he was eventually cleared by an independent Regulatory Commission.And last season, Arsenal lost three times to Newcastle, with two of those defeats coming at St James’ Park.A 1-0 loss in the top-flight was followed up by back-to-back 2-0 defeats in the Carabao Cup semi-finals – costing Arsenal a first final appearance since their 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup in 2020.For Arteta, he will be hoping not to add to his ever-growing list of St James’ Park nightmares this weekend.