Mikel Arteta spoke about a memorable evening for Arsenal against Atletico Madrid.
The Gunners had home advantage at the Emirates Stadium for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, but the tie hung in the balance after a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital last week.
‘In the end it was my gut feeling’
Arteta then rotated his starting eleven for the visit of Fulham on the weekend, and an emphatic first display saw goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka on the way to a 3-0 half-time lead. A gut instinct told the manager to stick with the same lineup, and he has not regretted that decision.
Saka slotted away the rebound from a Leandro Trossard strike close to the break, and Myles Lewis-Skelly supported Declan Rice ably in the midfield. Ben White was an effective conduit to platform Saka from right back, avoiding the exposure he has suffered in recent weeks, and the presence of Eberechi Eze in the ten meant Martin Odegaard had fresh legs to ramp up the defensive effort for a final half hour that saw phases of pressure but no sustained threat of opportunities for the Rojiblancos.
“We know how difficult and challenging every opponent is at this level. [Atletico] are an incredible team. The way they compete, the solution they have, the answer they have to everything you try to do to them immediately. It's incredible. That's the reason they've been there.
“They've done an outstanding job there. The margins are so small and tonight they've gone for us.
“If you see my iPad, the amount of line-ups I've done and changed and turned it again, and what about this and the possible subs and if they do that, we do this. In the end it was my gut feeling.
*“I had such a good feeling from what I saw a few days ago against Fulham. To do it, it was painful. It was difficult to leave important players out because they all want to be involved and start this kind of game. You saw the finishers, the manner they got into the pitch, how much they helped the team.*
“You can think and say it's going to be a beautiful night, but when you actually are looking somebody in the eye and they have that expression, and you look to the supporters and they are just immensely proud and happy, that's when our job makes sense. Many other times it's difficult to find the right reason why we do what we do, but when these things happen, then everything that we do is worth it.
“We've all been so aligned on the desire and ambition that we have for the club. Then you have to be sometimes lucky, things have to go your way. We put obviously so much work, passion and belief into what we do and today we got rewarded to have an incredible day in Budapest in a few weeks.
*“That box is ticked now [to generate an incredible atmosphere inside the **Emirates Stadium*], and now we have to maintain it. Now we go to the level that I think a top club that wants to be fighting consistently for the highest trophies, that's a must. We've got it now, now we have to maintain it.”
‘Everybody can feel a shift in energy’
The Gunners are now into the final of the Champions League for the first time in the Emirates era, having reached back-to-back semi-finals for the first time in their history. It is a magnificent feat that was made even more special for the manager by the impact of the fans in the ground on the night.
However, the job is far from finished. Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain should give an extremely stern examination of the best backline in European football. In the meantime, the team are fighting for their first Premier League title since 2004, and they will scoop that silverware if they can attain a 100% winning record from their contests with West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
Arteta asserted the importance of professionalism from his players for the rest of the month. At the same time, sport is a scene full of emotions, and this phase of the project should be embraced by all.
“It's an incredible night. We made history again together. I cannot be happier and prouder of everyone involved in this football club. The manner that we got to see outside the stadium was special and unique. The atmosphere that our supporters created, the energy, the way they lived every ball with us, it made it special and unique. I never felt that in the stadium.
“We knew how much it meant to everybody. We put everything in. The boys did an incredible job. After 20 years and for the second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.
“The high is not too high, the low is not too low, my job is to be quite stable. I really will enjoy it, everyone is enjoying this moment now.
“We have to start to prepare for Sunday, we have an incredible game now to play against West Ham, a really tough one and we're going to have four days to do that. It's great, let's enjoy the moment.
“I can try to convince them and give them love and clarity on what is, in my opinion, the most important thing. To be competitive and give us the chance to win what we want to achieve but then they have to do it. It's an incredible group of players and staff.
“In elite sport, in football in particular, you can live a really difficult day but if you keep working maybe you get rewarded and we've certainly done that in the last few weeks.
“Everybody can feel a shift in energy, in belief, in everything. Let's use it in the right way, understanding the margins and the difficulty of what we are trying to achieve. It's huge but we have the ability and the conviction to do that for sure.”