Arsenal have made their first UEFA Champions League final in 20 years and will await one of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich after a tight, tense semi final second leg was sealed by Bukaya Sako’s 44th minute goal.
Suddenly, Arsenal can now claim a double. Their season has swung back towards being an iconic one in the space of 24 hours, with a place in the final in Budapest on 31 May, and following Manchester City’s 3-3 draw with Everton on Tuesday AEST, now know their Premier League title race dream is entirely in their own hands.
Leandro Trossard shot from the left as half-time approached, and Saka was quickest to pounce at the back post after Jan Oblak’s save.
Arsenal defended their lead stoically as Antoine Griezmann, Alexander Sorloth and Marco Llorente poured forward, and endured one penalty scare when Riccardo Calafiori looked to have clipped Griezmann but a foul had already been blown in the build-up.
That would've definitely been a penalty for Atletico Madrid for the foul by Calafiori, but the ref had already blown the whistle for the foul on Gabriel
Arsenal escape there
https://t.co/bBsxPvv86W — Muktar (@afcmuktar) May 5, 2026
Declan Rice was immense in midfield while Viktor Gyokeres, who had chances to put the game to bed, was immense leading the line.
The last time the Gunners made the final of this competition was in 2006, when Arsene Wenger was still in charge and Thierry Henry still playing, losing 2-1 to Barcelona.
Bukayo Saka since returning from injury:
– Goal and assist in the title race
– Goal in a Champions League semi-final
Stepping up when it matters 👏 pic.twitter.com/GhrjzSli5u — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 5, 2026
Commentating on Amazon Prime, Premier League legend Alan Shearer surmised: “It wasn’t a vintage Arsenal performance but it didn’t have to be it, it had to be a performance to get them through and that’s exactly what they delivered.
“They had to fight, scrap and battle for every single ball and when they had the chance to go 1-0 they took it. They put their bodies on the line and that was enough to get them through to Budapest.
“Well done Arsenal.”
More to come…