Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times for Arsenal. As his side prepares to face Atlético Madrid in the decisive act of their second successive Champions League semi-final, it is easy to forget that they have only reached this stage on four occasions in their entire history.
But 20 years after Arsène Wenger’s team edged past Villarreal in the last European match to be played at Highbury, Arsenal have their best opportunity since then to reach a second final after a campaign where they have swept all before them. The 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg in Madrid made it 13 matches unbeaten in this year’s Champions League – the only club to have achieved that feat – and also matched Wenger’s longest run without a defeat in Europe’s premier competition.
That was ended by Barcelona in the 2006 final at the Stade de France after Sol Campbell gave Arsenal an early lead, an occasion that remains the closest they have come to lifting the famous old trophy. Yet even with the daunting prospect of facing the winners of the Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain tie in Budapest later this month if they can get past battle-hardened Atlético, Arteta has reason to feel optimistic. Bukayo Saka’s sensational return to form against Fulham on Saturday has reignited their Premier League title challenge, with a first trophy since the FA Cup in 2020 now within tantalising reach.
“I’ve done it many years ago, the thing that I had in mind for this club,” said Arteta when asked if he had visualised the captain, Martin Ødegaard, lifting the Champions League. “You can never promise to win major trophies. You can promise to work every single day with the vision and implementing, and being determined with the ideas and the decisions that you take to bring this club to be one of the best in Europe. Here we are, now we have to make the next step.”
The Arsenal manager was ridiculed by many for suggesting after last year’s semi-final defeat by PSG that they had been the “much better” team over the two legs. While it was true that Gianluigi Donnarumma made some sensational saves to see the French side through, Arsenal never really looked capable of beating a team that had already eliminated two other English clubs on their way to winning their first European title.
PSG’s victory at the Emirates Stadium in the first match was the only home defeat Arsenal have suffered in 18 Champions League matches under Arteta, having won 14, scoring 43 goals and conceding only eight. That should give their supporters hope of getting past an Atlético side that were dispatched 4-0 during the league phase in October.
However, Diego Simeone – who revealed before the first leg that he had dinner with Arteta after that game – will no doubt have his gameplan fully rehearsed. Atlético’s historic win at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their quarter-final against Barcelona showed they are capable of getting a result away from home, with Antoine Griezmann – still going strong at the age of 35 – having scored at the Emirates in the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2018.
“You can’t play the games beforehand, you just have to stay calm,” said the France forward, who played in Atlético’s last appearance in the final 10 years ago when he missed a penalty before they lost to their arch-rivals Real Madrid in a shootout. Griezmann is set to join the MLS side Orlando City next season and admitted he had considered that this could be his last European game for the club where he has made almost 500 appearances. “It’s something I’m thinking about,” he said. “You think these moments will always come back around but sometimes they don’t.”
Viktor Gyökeres scored a vital penalty in the first leg before Arsenal were denied a second spot- kick after it was initially awarded by the referee for a foul on Eberechi Eze, before being overturned. The Sweden striker has not missed a penalty since February 2024 when he was still at Sporting – a run of 27 in a row – and took his season’s tally to 21 with two goals against Fulham.
“Don’t try to think too much and just put it in the back of the net,” he said in typically straight-talking fashion when asked what goes through his mind when he is about to take a spot-kick.
Gyökeres stayed tight-lipped about whether the rest of Arsenal’s players have been practising their penalties should they be necessary against Atlético. It remains a strong possibility given the fine margins involved at this stage of the competition and he is determined not to leave anything to chance.
“I think we are in this position for a reason,” he said. “It has been incredible so far, what we have done this season. But we know we have got to get over the line.”