07/05/2026

THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2026

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Arsenal on cusp of history after reaching Champions League final, Saka’s goal settled a predictably tense tie

WHO SAID WHAT

ARSENAL VS ATLETICO “You’re taking me away from the celebrations. It’s so beautiful, you’ll have to see what it means to us, what it means to the fans. You know, this game is a high-pressure game, it means a lot to both sides. We managed to manage it well and take ourselves to the final, so we’re happy.” Bukayo Saka told Amazon Prime “I don’t think you can underestimate what we’ve done in this competition up to this point. I think we had every right to celebrate that moment. It’s such a big moment. Champions League final. The most prestigious tournament in club football. It’s a proud moment for the boys, for the club. We’re just trying to soak it all in.” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice “It’s been 20 years since Arsenal reached a final. When I arrived here, we started out in the Europa League. We have to keep going like this. We’re very strong defensively. We’ve got the best defence in the league, in the Premier League. Today, we did the job. We managed to score that goal before half-time. We defended well throughout the match.” Arsenal centreback William Saliba in an interview with Canal Plus “There’s nothing to say. We’re out! Congratulations to Arsenal because they compete well. I like their team and their coach. They work in a consistent way with their economic resources. Congratulations to them, we’ll keep working hard and we won’t get bogged down in a detail that was obvious.” Atletico coach Diego Simeone speaking to Movistar “Very hurt, totally gutted, but proud of my team and our fans. We gave everything. We could have scored goals, it just didn’t want to go in – the same thing happened in the first leg. Football is about clinical finishing, they were more clinical than us.” Atletico captain Koke told Movistar “It all happened so quickly. What I felt was that at the moment I tried to shoot he knocked me off balance and I couldn’t shoot properly. That’s what I felt. The referee in some moments like that didn’t go to the VAR, the same as for an incident with Antoine (Griezmann), and (the decisions) didn’t go our way.” Atletico midfielder Giuliano Simeone on missing an open goal “How they’ve played all season, in the Premier League and Champions League, they’ve deserved to get in this position. They haven’t won it yet so the celebrations

M IKEL ARTETA has urged Arsenal to use the “energy and belief” generated by reaching the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years as fuel to complete a historic double. Even by his frenetic standards, Arteta was a blur of energy as the Gunners boss embarked on a jubilant lap of honour with his players after yes terday’s 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the semifinal second leg at the Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka’s close-range finish in the first half sealed a 2-1 aggregate vic tory that sent Arsenal back into the Champions League final for the first time since their only previous appear ance ended in defeat against Barcelona in 2006. The north London club are now four games from immortality, with three wins from their remaining Premier League matches against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace guarantee ing a first English title since 2004. After the title fight with Manchester City is decided, Arteta’s side will travel to Budapest to face Paris Saint Germain or Bayern Munich on May 30 as they chase a maiden Champions League crown. Whoever they face in Hungary will encounter an Arsenal team riding a tidal wave of emotion after the outpour ing of joy from Arteta, his players and 60,000 fans yesterday. From the moment, thousands of Arsenal fans massed outside the sta dium to greet the team bus with red flares, flags and defiant roars of encour agement, it was clear this was a day unlike any other for the Gunners. Arteta was ecstatic during the wild post-match celebrations and, on the cusp of history, he challenged his play ers to use the feeling to carry them to the finish line in both competitions. “It’s great. Everybody can feel a shift in energy, in belief, in everything,” he said. “Let’s use it in the right way and understand that the margins and the difficulty of what we are trying to achieve are huge, but that we have the ability and the conviction to do it. “I’m really going to enjoy it tonight, everybody is enjoying this moment now. But the high is not too high and the low is not too low. My job is to be quite stable. “We have an incredible game against West Ham, a really tough one, and we’re going to have four days to do that.”

Over two decades have passed since Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” reigned supreme with their unbeaten title winning campaign in 2004. Wenger gradually lost his way after losing to Barca in the Champions League final, but Arteta finally appears to have recaptured the spirit of that iconic team. The Spaniard has laboured

for over six years to create the perfect alchemy between players and fans, a bond that has come dangerously close to breaking during a trophy drought dating back to the 2020 FA Cup victory. Arteta has hit on

the perfect ingredients this season, leaving Arsenal on the brink of erasing the pain of three successive run ners-up finishes in the Premier League. “It was an incredi

ble night. We made his tory again together and I cannot be happier and prouder for everybody that’s involved in this football club,” Arteta said. “The supporters were with us for every ball. They made it spe cial and unique, and I have never felt it like that in this sta dium. “We knew how much it meant to everybody, we put everything on the line, the boys did an incredible job.” Winning the Champions League and Premier League in a single season would be greatest campaign in the club’s 140-year history. Arteta is happy to give the credit to his players, admitting he could never have imagined being so close to such glory when he arrived to start his first managerial job in 2019. “They are the ones that have to make these kind of perform ances. I didn’t really imagine it because we weren’t in Europe at the beginning. This is a big achievement,” he said. “We have been building little by little. “We believed in what we wanted to do. Now we have to maintain it.” – AFP

Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard (top) and Myles Lewis Skelly celebrate after defeating Atletico to reach the Champions League final yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

are a little bit… too much. Celebrate when you win it! But no they deserve it, they were really good today.” Man Utd icon Wayne Rooney warned

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