Within 24 hours, Arsenal challenged for the Premier League and champions league The double was given a liftoff.
Mikel Arteta’s side took control of the title race without even playing on Monday. Manchester City ended in an unexpected 3-3 draw With Everton. And on Tuesday, Arsenal qualified for the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. 1-0 victory over Atlético Madrid.
that A heartbreaking 2-1 loss to City April 19 suddenly feels like a distant memory as Arsenal came close to winning silver on two fronts.
“I strongly believe I know what this team is capable of,” midfielder Declan Rice told Amazon Prime. “After that City game, in my opinion, it wasn’t a title-clinching game. We lost, we didn’t want to lose, but it definitely wasn’t over.”
Arsenal finished runners-up in the Premier League for the third year in a row, with one win in six games in all competitions between March and April, and appeared to be crumbling under the pressure of winning the title.
However, back-to-back league wins and victory over Atlético have restored momentum to the London club, ensuring they will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 30th.
“Elite sport, especially football, has its ups and downs. You never know what the next moment or opportunity will bring, so you have to work at it,” said Arteta, whose only trophy with Arsenal came in the FA Cup in 2020.
Arsenal still have one more game to play with three matches remaining and are five points ahead of City in the league.
This means Arteta is now four games away from giving Arsenal fans their first Premier League title since 2004 and their first-ever Champions League title.
“It’s so nice to give that joy back to them after so many years and see the pride in their eyes. It’s beautiful to see,” Arteta said.
Rice said the pain of missing out on the title for the third year in a row and losing to PSG in last year’s Champions League semi-finals only strengthened the team’s character.
“Where this club has come from over the last few years, what we’ve built, losing in the Premier League, losing in the cup, things that hurt me as a player…” he said. “The manager took full control. We continued to strengthen the team, continued to add good quality to the squad and continued to push each other.
“And in this competition and in the Premier League, we are running at full throttle and with less than a month to go we find ourselves in a very good position.”
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
