Gabriel Martinelli made clear his pride in the progression of Arsenal past Sporting.
A drab draw will not live long in the memory for fans at the Emirates Stadium, but as the match report confirmed, the Gunners weathered the storm to witness history as the Gunners got to successive semi-finals in the Champions League for the first time.
The Brazil international came into the second leg as the player with the best return of direct goal contributions per minutes in the continental competition, having registered six goals and two assists. He seems to shine most on the big occasions, and as Atletico Madrid await in the final four, he is motivated to succeed this season where the team failed in 2025 against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
“It feels amazing. We're happy with this achievement - everyone is buzzing in the dressing room and we're really happy. We did well in the first leg of the quarterfinals and today we did quite well. Of course, we could have done better.
“But that's football and Sporting is a really good side as well, so they did well. We managed to not concede and we're through, so we're really happy and we can't wait to play against Atletico.
“I can't wait to get to the game, it's going to be another big one. Of course, we've played them this season, early in the season. Obviously, it's going to be a different game. We're looking forward to playing this game. It's going to be another battle. We are going to take what we did wrong last season to try to do right this season. We'll go for it and we can't wait to play them.”
“I've been working hard for those moments, to help this team. This is my club, my family. I feel really good here and it means a lot to me. We want to win titles and I'm really happy with the way we've been doing things.
*“[The **Champions League*] is really nice - the game is really open, you have spaces to run into, and we manage the ball well. We find spaces well and I've been enjoying playing in this competition.”