Don't let the moment pass you by
With spotless win, Arsenal book their place in history
When the final whistle blew on Arsenal’s 1-0 blotting out of Atletico Madrid Tuesday night, Mikel Arteta and his team of reds let out a collective sigh of relief that crescendoed into unfiltered joy. They’d held on to yet another one-goal win, though truthfully their opponents had once again not truly threatened them for most of the night, picking up just one shot in 90 minutes that xG models gave a better than 10% chance of ending up in the net.
In a season that has been defined by criticism, from both inside and outside the house, and by discussion more about what they cannot do rather than what they can, this Arsenal side confirmed their place in history. They will play for European — and likely global — football’s largest club title on May 30, an honor that even many great players get to fight for maybe once in an entire career, if that.
You read that right — Bukayo Saka, Gabriel, David Raya, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly and all the rest will enter that Budapest evening just 90 minutes from being Champions League winners. What has always seemed one round or three games or six weeks away could come their way in just two hours once that game kicks off.
Tuesday’s full-time whistle brought me immense joy, and yet on many levels it still has not fully sunken in just how enormous an achievement this is. Rival fans will cite the path to the final as being too easy, the smothering wins over Leverkusen, Sporting and Atletico as being unimpressive, and they’ll very much pit whichever of PSG or Bayern advances as the “what’s right with football” to the villain that is Arsenal’s boring, ball recycling, defensively robust unit.
Those discussions will take place over the next three weeks and change, during which we’ll also discover the final destiny of Arsenal in this season’s Premier League title race. But for the moment, just consider how significant this step is for Arsenal — not fully done, of course, but on a plane that even Arsenal’s most legendary players rarely have reached.
The 2026 Champions League final will be only Arsenal’s 2nd in club history, and first since 2006. Max Dowman was still three years from birth when that match was played, and even Christian Nørgaard was still in Danish primary school at the formative age of just 12.
Not only are Arsenal still alive 14 matches into their Champions League run; they’ve yet to be beaten even once in the campaign. Their 29 goals scored is already the second-highest in a CL season in club history, behind only last season’s 31. Their six goals conceded is half the number that any other knockout round participant allowed, and five less than next-lowest Pafos FC allowed during the league stage alone.
Despite some of the narrative about their performances this season, Arsenal are on a +23 goal difference in the competition, which matches Bayern Munich’s and bests PSG’s by a goal. Last season’s champion PSG also finished +23, while Pep’s unbeaten 2023 winners finished +27.
Regardless of whatever nits your mate or older relative might want to pick with this side and how they play, Arsenal are in rarefied air here. Mikel Arteta has accomplished what so many fans both within our ranks and not have publicly, boisterously doubted he could by bringing Arsenal to the brink of football’s international promised land. Not only did Arsenal’s players show grit and desire and creativity to make it here - they defended with conviction, without panic and with the kind of fiery confidence that proven winners show, not serial bottlers or paper tigers. This is a far cry from just a handful of years ago, where we were begging Arsenal to show the fight it took to merely qualify for Europe, yet alone run the table to a final.
With that Champions League final ticket officially booked and just eight magical points separating Arteta from a Premier League crown that has eluded them so long, it’s time to set aside all narratives, all trivia and all concerns and embrace this moment and this team for what they are: Special. Though the job is still yet to be finished, this group has delivered something so many have failed to do.
No, it isn’t a trophy, but that’s worthy of celebration.