“I’ve never felt that in a stadium before,” said the Arsenal manager afterwards. These streets had never seen scenes like it.
What a difference a few weeks make. After months of being seeped in nervousness – which threatened to destabilise Arsenal’s season – the stadium was alive again.
As the teams came out of the tunnel on Tuesday night, they were greeted with a huge Tifo of a fleet of boats – next to the words ‘Over Land and Sea’.
There was a meaning behind it. It harked back to Arteta’s comments in January – after losing to Manchester United – about the need to ignore the nerves and jump on the “fun boat” of the season. Back then, the Emirates was stressed when tasked with big moments – and Arteta called for a different energy as he tried to navigate the waters.
His call has been answered. This time, there was no negative feeling in the tricky moments of a testing semi-final with Atletico Madrid. Every tackle, header, throw-in won was cheered like a goal. For the Arsenal fans in the ground, being unconvincing was alright for a change.
The mood in Arsenal’s stadium is not the only thing that has shifted recently. It has been a momentous 24 hours for everyone connected to the club.
First, Manchester City dropped points in the Premier League title race to hand the initiative to the Gunners. Then the first Champions League final in a generation was reached. There is fresh, new life in Arteta’s Arsenal that even the manager himself recognised it.
“Everybody can feel a shift in energy and a belief in everything,” said Arteta when asked about the last 24 hours – and especially the City draw at Everton. “Let’s use it in the right way.”
The wind is sailing in favour of Arsenal. Things seem to be falling into place at the right time. Not only are the fans back onside but key players are returning from injury just in time for the crunch part of the run-in.
Bukayo Saka seems the obvious example of this, with the Arsenal winger getting two goals and an assist in just over 100 minutes of action in the last few days. Riccardo Calafiori has added steel to the defence, but creativity going forward as well.
Myles Lewis-Skelly is offering freshness to a midfield that has suffered from a different kind of fuel shortage of late. And there’s even Martin Odegaard’s return to factor in and Kai Havertz still to come back properly after missing some recent matches.
The team is reacting to these small but multiple boosts. Arsenal are not only greater and stronger in numbers – but in confidence too.
Before the game, Arteta called for his team to be ‘beasts’ against Atletico Madrid and it came in many forms. Whether it was Declan Rice’s goal-saving challenge in the first half, or Gabriel’s two interventions in the second half to deny close-range Atleti’s efforts.
Leandro Trossard was an underrated star for the Gunners, making 10 ball recoveries – twice as many as the next best player on the pitch – as he was tasked with tracking back to stop Atleti’s big threat in Antoine Griezmann.
But perhaps Arsenal’s new-found confidence, energy and momentum is best summarised by Viktor Gyokeres. The Arsenal striker hounded Atleti’s defenders from start to finish, bringing his team up the pitch but also chasing the opposition defenders relentlessly.
Each run from the Arsenal striker lifted the energy in the ground – so much so that the Arsenal fans even forgave him for missing a second half sitter.
“He’s not as flashy as other strikers in the world but he does all the dirty work,” said Wayne Rooney after seeing Gyokeres’ output. “He played a massive role in Arsenal winning this game.”
Just when it matters, Arsenal now do not look like a side with holes in it. They do not look like a team missing a top centre forward, nor one making costly mistakes, nor a one struggling with the final task of getting over the line.
While they may not have the eye-catching glitz and glamour of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City, they do have a steeliness coming through.
This was Arsenal’s 30th clean sheet of the season in all competitions. It was a defence that was never really stretched across this Champions League semi-final second leg. They have now conceded just seven goals in 14 European matches this season.
That gives them every chance to back up a Premier League title race they are in control of, with a special night in the Budapest final on May 30.
“We have the ability and the conviction to do that for sure,” said Arteta about making this a special season. That special season could well end in two trophies in just over three weeks’ time.
