It's been an incredible season covering Premier League champions Arsenal including all 14 Champions League matches: Here's my memories of all seven European trips so far
Destiny awaits Arsenal in Budapest as Champions League final looms large
It’s been an incredible season covering Premier League champions Arsenal including all 14 Champions League matches: Here’s my memories of all seven European trips
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Arsenal are on the cusp of the greatest season in the club’s long and illustrious 140 year history this weekend, when they face PSG.
Mikel Arteta’s side are gearing up to play their 63rd and last game of the 2025-26 season on Saturday when they take on the French billionaire moneybags in Budapest for the Champions League trophy, with Arteta’s Premier League title winners on the verge of sporting immortality.
I have had the pleasure and the privilege of covering all 14 of the Gunners games in Europe this season, from Bilbao and Prague, Bruges and Milan, to Leverkusen, Lisbon and Madrid. And now about to head to Budapest from**Vienna,** where I’ve been for the last couple of days.
Here’s my memories of an incredible European campaign so far.
1 - Bilbao
Atletic Club 0-2 Arsenal, Tuesday, September 16, Estadio de San Mamés. Attendance: 51,059
Two late goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard helped Arsenal beat Athletic to start their Champions League campaign with a win at the ear-splitting Estadio de San Mamés in that beguiling Basque city.
The pair coming off the bench to score, with Martinelli scoring a mere 36 seconds after being introduced, as Mikel Arteta fielded five of his eight summer signings. While new Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres showed bravery after ending up in bandages after clash of heads with team-mate Gabriel in front of a passionate home crowd in an ear-splitting atmosphere that included a spectacular tifo before kick-off.
Off the field, the trip was notable for the warm welcome the proud Basque club gave to reporters from England including myself. While I also caught up with old friends deep in the heart of the evocative old city. Bilbao is a city that has reinvented itself, sparked by the now iconic Guggenheim Museum on the banks of the Nervion River.
As for the food, pinxtos, the Basque version of tapas, are such beautiful creations they should be classed as works of art, featuring prawns stacked delicately, not to mention the skewers of anchovies and olives, as well as cheese and ham. I was so taken by the area I took two days off and got my first Flixbus of the campaign from Bilbao to the nearby beach town of San Sebastián.
Blessed with three gorgeous beaches the memory of laying on La Concha beach, prior to strolling through the old town to the wood panelled Bar Nesta to eat a mouth-watering selection of pinxtos, the sunshine memory of which sustained me through our cold and dark winter.
Athletic Club is more than a football team
Three Takeaways from Arsenal's Champions League win over Athletic Club here in Bilbao
Letter From San Sebastián: Pinxtos, plazas, and playas - three ways to enjoy the beguiling Basque Country
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2 - Prague
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal, Tuesday, November 4, Fortuna Arena. Attendance: 19,222
Bukayo Saka opens the scoring from the penalty spot in front of a passionate home crowd which included a spectacular pre-match tifo from the Slavia ultras. That was prior to Mikel Merino adding a brace in the second half, while Max Dowman became the youngest ever player in Champions League. Slavia had a late penalty overturned by VAR as Arteta’s side imperiously extended their clean sheet run to eight matches in a European and domestic spell that laid the foundations for what was to come.
Prague is a such a beautiful city, with its castle, and cobbled lanes, not to mention the Charles Bridge. I stayed over the Vltava River which invoked crossing the famous bridge every evening after catching up with pals, the numerous religious statues on the bridge illuminated by a bright moon that seemed to bring the religious icons to life. Or maybe that was simply the copious amounts of the locally brewed golden elixir known asPlzeňský prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell) that I had consumed. I liked it so much I even bought a hat with pilsner emblazoned on it. Staying near a delightful micro brewery and restaurant called Porc, I somehow managed to eat three huge plates of pork knuckles three days in a row. Maybe I should also have purchased a hat with the word Pork on it.
Record-breaking Gunners ease to Champions League victory in Prague
Three Things We Learned from Mikel Arteta’s Slavia Prague vs Arsenal pre-match press conference here in the Czech capital
Three Key Champions League Takeaways after Arsenal's 3-0 win at Slavia Prague
……..
3 - Bruges
Bruges 0-3 Arsenal. Wednesday, December 10. Jan Breydelstadion. Attendance: 26,464
Mikel Arteta made five changes to side beaten by Aston Villa the previous weekend as Noni Madueke scores a superb long-range strike, before heading in a second, prior to Gabriel Martinelli curling in a third from the edge of area as Marli Salmon, 16, made his debut as the Gunners all but secured their passage to the Champions League knockout phase on a memorable pre-Christmas Eurostar jaunt to Flanders.
I’ve come a long way since my first visit to Belgium to watch Arsenal back in 1993, when I saw the Gunners thrash Standard Liege 7-0 during a riotous trip that saw us arrive with no tickets, no hotel and no idea. We nearly got deported by the riot police after the game but that’s a different story. Three decades on I was taking in Michelangelo’s stunning white marble sculpture called Madonna of Bruges of the Virgin and Child, in the equally stunning setting of the Church of Our Lady. I’m not religious at all, but it certainly moved me. As did the strong continental beers with pals later the same day.
Bruges is such a spectacularly pretty town, Christmas seems to bring the best out of it. Or as my mate Grumpy Glenn said: “I’ve never seen a place whose main industry is Christmas.’ Bruges was certainly welcoming with its festive Xmas markets around the main square, which, for those of us who had seen the film In Bruges, also had us repeating the best lines from that darkly humous ground-breaking noir. A convivial afternoon was had by myself and my Arsenal pals prior to the match, which also included imbibing 10 per cent Belgium beers.
I normally pride myself on being able to control my emotions in the press box, but I must admit I blurted out a loud exhortation upon witnessing Madueke’s spectacular opener, such was the satisfying quality of the long-range strike, as Arsenal eased to victory two weeks before Christmas.
Arsenal display depth and class in Bruges victory
Four Things We Learned After Arsenal Sweep Aside Club Brugge
………
4 - Milan
Inter Milan 1-3 Arsenal. Tuesday, January 20. San Siro. Attendance: 72,649
Mikel Arteta made seven changes from the side that drew a blank in a miserable 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest the weekend before. Gabriel Jesus put the Gunners ahead in the mighty San Siro with his first Champions League goal since 2023. Petar Sucic levelled for the Italian giants - who were to go on and win Serie A again this season - before Jesus’ grabbed his second. Viktor Gyokeres added a late third as Arsenal make it seven straight wins in the competition to seal top spot in the league phase.
It was good to fire a couple of pre-match questions at Jesus before the game. The popular Brazilian has suffered terrible luck with injuries, but is a really lovely guy, who understands our club, and loves playing for Arteta. Another wholly deserving Gunners to finally earn a Premier League medal with Arsenal last weekend.
I love the San Siro. I’ve been so many times since my first trip back in 1995 for the Super Cup clash between AC Milan and Arsenal. I know the away end experience is a miserable one, with poor facilities and even poor policing. Heaven knows I’ve done enough trips as a traveling fan to understand, while nothing ever changes from the authorities’ awful behaviour and mindset.
However, purely from a football romantic’s point of view, the San Siro is tied up with Italia 90 for me, not to mention being absolutely struck by its majestic architecture, one which, having first glimpsed it in my early 20s in the mid 90s, absolutely blew me away with his size and incredible proportions. It looked like a ginormous space ship. It still does. It I will be sad to see it demolished, even if plenty of travelling Gooners will disagree with me.
I actually left for Milan as soon as I got back from the dismal 0-0 draw at Nottingham, my early Sunday morning taxi driver to the airport was far too cheery for me. The fact he told me he was a Galatasary fan and that May 17, 2000 was his greatest day meant I simply pulled up my hoodie and went to sleep in the back, after telling him a mate of mine ended up in hospital during that dreadful second trip to Copenhagen, following such a wonderful time in 1994.
Upon arrival in Milan I headed straight to the San Siro and picked up a ticket for 18 Euros to watch AC Milan beat Lecce 1-0. While the football was nothing to write home about, the atmosphere was top notch as ever. And all for little more than £15.
Having been to Milan so many times I’d pretty much sampled everything the city had to offer, apart from the Cimetario Monumentale, which included an astonishing mausoleum to the Campari family who hailed from the area.
So blown away by the Campari mausoleum which was based on Da Vinchi’s Last Supper (you really have to see it to believe it) I decided there and then to only drink Campari during my four day trip when I wasn’t working. I even took my Arsenal pals Ginger Mark and Eko to an elegant wood-panelled bar complete with white jacketed bar staff that only sold campari in the shadows of the Duomo.
Inter boss Chivu hails Gunners' San Siro triumph: ‘Arsenal impressed me’
Letter From Milan: A Campari or two amid marble mausoleums & magnificent marvels
Jesus hails Arsenal’s 'amazing' travelling support: Three Things We Learned After Gabi’s San Siro Pre-Match Press Conference
Three Things We Learned After Arsenal's Majestic Victory Over Inter Milan At The Mighty San Siro
5 - Leverkusen
Bayer Leveruksen 1-1 Arsenal. Wednesday, March 11. BayArena. Attendance: 30,210
Former Leverkusen legend Kai Havertz showed nerves of steel to score a last-gaps penalty against his old club to level in 89th minute, and keep Arsenal’s unbeaten record going in the Champions League, after Arteta’s side went behind for first time in the tournament this season following Robert Andrich’s header from a corner early in the second half.
It was clear to see the love Leverkusen had for their former young prodigy, not least during the pre-match press conference that saw Havertz speak so respectfully about his time at Bayer. So much so even the stewards marshalling the pressers were so excited I think they thought they were at a concert, with one chap actually squealing with delight when they caught a glimpse of their ex-striker.
Having been to northern Germany so many times since my first visit to nearby Cologne when I saw Arsenal lose 3-2 to Borussia Moenchengladbach at the city’s old Mungersdorfer Stadion, including covering England at the 2024 European Championships at the now revamped ground, not to mention driving to Cologne to cover Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to FC Koln back in 2017, I decided to actually stay in Leverkusen.
If you’re on social media you may recall my hotel room looked more like a prison cell. A very spartan prison cell at that. Tempered only by the fact that the BayArena was a 500 yard walk. However, having ‘completed’ Leverkusen in an afternoon - the place makes Gelsenkirchen seem as vibrant as Berlin - I decided to bite the bullet and head over to Cologne to catch up with old pals for a few beers the day before the game, after having spent a nice afternoon exploring nearby Bonn, a place I’d never visited before.
It was a wonderful week in Germany, capped by my sojourn down to Stuttgart to cover their Europa League clash with Porto at a stadium I’d always wanted to visit, the iconic Neckarstadion.
Former Leverkusen hero Havertz rescues Arsenal with last-gasp spot-kick
Letter From Leverkusen
Arsenal's Kai Havertz: Loved In Leverkusen
Hero Havertz rescues Arsenal with last-gasp spot-kick at former club Leverkusen
Advantage Porto amid the frenzy at Stuttgart’s evocative Neckarstadion
……
6 - Lisbon
Sporting Clube de Portugal 0-1 Arsenal. Tuesday, April 7. Jose Alvalade. Attendance: 50,804
In the words of the song: Kai Havertz scores again. On this occasion in the Portuguese capital a stoppage-time winner for visitors from North London. Earlier Maxi Araujo hit the crossbar for Sporting in the first half, before Noni Madueke also stuck the woodwork direct from a corner, prior to Martin Zubimendi having a goal ruled out for offside after the interval.
I love going to Portugal, so once the draw was made I booked a cheap flight to Porto and hung out in that wonderful city for 24 hours sampling gambas in the city’s beautiful riverside next to the iconic bridge. Before taking my green-winged chariot - aka a five quid Flixbus from Porto to Lisbon for the game. The day after Arsenal’s draw I then headed up to a city in Northern Portugal I had never visited before, Braga.
The reason was two-fold. To take in the beautiful town of Braga, and then to watch a game of football at the absolutely stunning Estádio Municipal de Braga, which you can read about below…
Late Havertz goal earns Arsenal valuable first-leg win at Sporting Lisbon
Postcards from Porto
Arsenal show character to beat Sporting through Havertz's late winner as Raya shines in rainy Lisbon
Postcards from Braga's incredible Estádio Municipal
…….
7 - Madrid
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal. Wednesday, April 29. Estadio Metropolitano. Attendance: 68,421
Viktor Gyokeres gave Arsenal the lead with a penalty moments before half time on a fevered evening in the Spanish capital, before Gunners target Julian Alvarez equalised with an Atletico spot-kick following Ben White’s handball. Club legend Antoine Griezmann hit the crossbar while Eberechi Eze had a penalty overturned by VAR.
A truly momentous match. A truly momentous trip.
Gyokeres goal helps Gunners draw on night of high drama at Metropolitano
I think my Letter from Spain Substack detailed my trip perfectly.The headline read: Arsenal, Absinthe, Art, Tear Gas, Tapas and Truncheons.
My eyes started to sting and throat choked as baton-wielding riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas before Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal Champions League clash
After a memorable week in Spain flitting between Barcelona and MadridArsenalwere now just 90 minutes away from the Champions League final.
We all know what happened on a never-to-be-forgotten Emirates evening in the second leg, which for me was the best atmosphere - inside and outside - bar none in 20 years at the stadium after leaving Highbury back in 2006.
As I write this piece in my hotel room here in Vienna, about to get another of my green-winged chariots to Hungary from Austria’s delightful capital city where I’ve had the best couple of days, destiny awaits in Budapest. I’ll be heading to the stadium to collect my official UEFA accreditation before reporting on the press conferences and open training later today (Friday) before catching up with old Arsenal mates in the centre of Budapest tonight, including one of my best mates, Matty Bleasby, who emigrated to Australia years ago, but who is flying specially from Sydney to the Hungarian capital and arriving tonight. It promises to be an incredible weekend.
It’s certainly been a memorable season covering Arsenal across Europe, thanks for reading, who knows what this weekend will bring. I’m sure you can’t wait. I certainly can’t.
See you on the other side.
Come on you Gunners
Cheers, Layth
Layth’s Take is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.