Mikel Arteta admitted that he would love to see the Arsenal fans replicate the scenes before and during the win over Atletico Madrid every week, but understands the challenges preventing that ahead of the crunch clash against Burnley.
05:00, 18 May 2026
Arsenal fans met the club coach ahead of the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid
View Image
Arsenal fans met the club coach ahead of the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Arsenal are set to be met by thousands of their supporters outside the Emirates Stadium once again ahead of their Premier League match with Burnley.
Supporter group RedAction helped to bring together fans ahead of the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid.
As both team coaches arrived, they received contrasting reactions. Diego Simeone’s team were met with a wall of red shirts and flares; boos and jeering, which would unsettle any side, even the Argentinian’s.
FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
The unbranded Arsenal coach, however, was met with rapturous applause, cheers and passion from the sidelines. It was in these moments that you gain ultra-level respect for the drivers of these huge coaches that had to navigate the tiny roundabout at the start of Hornsea Road.
But from Mikel Arteta’s perspective, he gave no illusions on how he felt about the whole experience, which is now set to be repeated with hopes of an even larger turnout on Monday evening.
"I loved it," he said when asked by football.london for his thoughts. “I think all the players loved it.
“I think it builds an energy connection with them that we haven't experienced before. The whole preparation and the whole atmosphere showed that the level of meaning was higher and the level of implication and desire and passion from our supporters was different as well. It really helps.”
Naturally, the team buses have tinted windows making it near-impossible to see inside. When asked for more clarity around what was going on inside, Arteta spared no detail.
“The players were in the other bus, but I could see straight away all the staff and everybody was there just looking at each other and saying, 'Wow, we've taken this now to a different level.'
“Just looking, the engagement, the passion, the enthusiasm of our fans in their eyes, I think that was something special.”
This would only be the second time ever that something like this has been both attempted and achieved by Arsenal. It takes inspiration from scenes seen across Europe, and of course, Atletico Madrid, who operate similarly, but the Riyadh Air Metropolitano’s surroundings make for a much smoother entrance for the coaches.
Arteta is fully aware that the metropolis that is London and the tight, narrow streets that the Emirates Stadium is surrounded by make attempting the event for every game a challenge.
“I would love to,” Arteta said when asked if this was something he wanted to see for every match. “But sometimes the infrastructure does not allow you to do certain things.
“But with what we have, if we can optimise that in benefit of performance and generating that atmosphere, I think we have to try to do it. We are step by step trying to get there.”
Arteta has been credited with plenty of upgrades to the squad, the club’s philosophy and culture, but perhaps most of all is the improvement in the connection between the team and the fans. Winning breeds positivity certainly, but Arteta knew from even before he started that something had to change.
“It was the first thing because a few days before I was appointed here, I was on the other bench with Man City and that image, that feeling of the stadium, the crowd ... 50% of the stadium was empty,” he said. “It really got into me.
“I said, with this, there is no project, there is nothing that we're going to [be able to] do. This is not going to work.
“Unfortunately, it got worse very quickly because then COVID hit, and then instead of 50%, we have zero. So you make the job even harder.
“So after that we had to rebuild everything. But when it's harder at the beginning, then it's better. So to see that transformation and that joy on the people, it's something that is beautiful to watch.”
Attending a match at The Emirates today is vastly different to what it was a decade ago. The end of Arsene Wenger’s tenure and the period under Unai Emery were not associated with the ground being akin to a fortress.
Article continues below
The Highbury Library tags that had carried over from the old ground had festered, and the club was lacking competitiveness and good feeling. Arteta has changed that, and perhaps it is best demonstrated by what the players will see once again on Monday evening.