Mikel Arteta spoke to TV after Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid ensured passage to the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years.
Here’s what he had to say.
On the result …
It’s an amazing night to live these kind of moments with our people, our players, everybody at the club. It’s just an incredible feeling. It makes sense a lot of the things that we do and we go through when you just see so many happy faces and so many people proud of what we are doing.
It was unbelievable right from the beginning. The amount of supporters waiting for us at the stadium, the energy, the passion that they put in, it was just great to witness.
The fans rising to the occasion …
Absolutely, I think they set the standards and we tried to catch up with them immediately. It’s so good after so many years to give that joy back to them, and see that pride in their eyes is beautiful to watch.
What pleased him most about the performance?
The togetherness. It was very difficult to make certain decisions and I feel a lot for the boys because I know generally how good people they are. Some of them, I talked to them this afternoon, I said ‘I apologize, I’m going to play the same team [as Fulham]’, and their reaction immediately was ‘I’m here when you need me, boss. I’m going to be right with the team’, then they give me a hug. So what else do I want?
Saka scoring the winner …
Well, it had to be someone very special and he is certainly someone very special with me for the boys and for everybody attached to this club, so if it had to be someone scoring goals, probably it had to be him.
On defeat to Man City seeming like a long time ago …
It does, but that’s the twist and turns of elite sport and football in particular. You have to be active because you never know what the next moment, or opportunity is going to bring to you.