Bukayo Saka scores the only goal as Gunners reach final for first time in 20 years
Arsenal progressed to their first Champions League final in 20 years after a stunning two days has put a tantalising trophy double within reach.
A 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, going through 2-1 on aggregate, has booked the Premier League leaders a place in the final, where they will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.
They were 14 minutes from lifting the one trophy that has always eluded them back in 2006, before Barcelona struck twice late on in Paris.
Now, Mikel Arteta’s side stand 90 minutes away from writing their names into the history books at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on 30 May.
Beating Atletico – equalling a club record 41 wins in a season set in 1971 – marked a pivotal 48 hours for the Gunners. Manchester City’s draw with Everton on Monday night left Arsenal three wins from winning the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
Is everything finally coming together just when it matters most? In four games, we will know.
The atmosphere outside Emirates Stadium was feverish hours before kick-off, as fans gathered for a pre-planned meeting to welcome the Arsenal team coach into the ground.
Arteta said he had “never seen” anything like it, and the Spaniard spent five years entering the stadium as a player before seven more as manager.
To ramp up the atmosphere further, a giant tifo was unfurled as the players walked out from the tunnel, with “Over land and sea” – echoing a popular fan chant – written below vast ships displaying the Arsenal badge on their billowing sails.
“They set the standards and we tried to keep up with them,” Arteta said of the fans. “It was so good to give that joy back to them and see that pride in their eyes.”
Watch: Arsenal’s incredible tifo
In an intriguing move, Arsenal were unchanged from the side that beat Fulham comfortably in their previous match.
It was a particularly bold call to start teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly alongside Declan Rice in central midfield – only his second start in the position for the first team and one of his few starts all season, in one of their most important games. Lewis-Skelly rewarded the trust with an outstanding performance and received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the second half.
“The manager has been tough on him behind the scenes,” Rice told Amazon Prime. “He has kept his head down. He is in early, gym and works hard. To be thrown in at the deep end and perform how he did is no surprise to me.”
It also meant a second start for Bukayo Saka in four days, having not started for five weeks while recovering from injury. He proved the sharpest player on the pitch, scoring the only goal of the game from a rebound to send Arsenal through.
Fresh from recording a goal and assist versus Fulham, Arsenal’s captain delivered in the big moments. He has 14 goal contributions in his last 14 Champions League games at the Emirates and celebrated by grabbing the badge on his shirt.
Saka did what was required before he was substituted just before the hour as Arsenal manage his return carefully for the run-in.
“It is a beautiful story and I hope it ends well in Budapest,” Saka told Amazon Prime afterwards.
Watch: Amazing full-time reactions
Their route to the final, becoming the fifth different Premier League side to reach it in eight years, has been built on the foundations of the strongest defence in the competition.
Arsenal have been behind only once – for 43 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen – in the tournament and are yet to be beaten – the only side in the Champions League to remain unbeaten in their first 14 matches.
Goalkeeper David Raya – who will at the very least share the Premier League Golden Glove for a third successive season – kept his ninth clean sheet in the 13 games he has played.
Viktor Gyokeres was immense up front, holding up play, stretching the Atletico defence and causing chaos with his strength and physicality.
Just when Arsenal’s season looked to be unravelling at the worst possible time – winning only once in a six-game spell between mid-March and mid-April – they have regained form and composure.
Rice described it as “turning a corner again”, admitting they had been “sloppy” but had now “found a new way of playing.”
They will carry that into a monumental London derby against West Ham on Sunday, followed by a home game against Burnley and a final-day trip to Crystal Palace. A week later comes Budapest.
By the end of the month, they may well have secured two trophies that have been an awfully long time coming.
See: Arsenal report
Champions League semi-finals
Second leg:
6 May – Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain (4-5 on aggregate)
Champions League final
30 May – Arsenal v Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain (Budapest)