Arsenal are looking to win the Premier League and end a 22-year wait to become English champions, beating Paris Saint-Germain to win the Champions League for the first time.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is on the verge of immortality on Saturday (Image: 2026 Catherine Ivill – AMA)
Mikel Arteta is on the brink of greatness.
If Arsenal win the Champions League and complete the double with the Premier League title, it will surely go down as the greatest single-season feat by a manager in the club’s history. That would put Arteta further ahead of the likes of Arsene Wenger, George Graham, Bertie Mee and Herbert Chapman in terms of success in Europe.
And from there, Arteta will have a great opportunity to create an era of success and leave a legacy that could make him one of the greatest.
Arsenal have never won the Champions League trophy before, but it would take the club to a new level in European football. They will effectively become Europe’s super club and Arteta will also take them to a new level in terms of his stature.
Arsenal are one of the great clubs in English football, but they have won so many trophies domestically that it is strange that their only European success has been the Fairs Cup in 1970 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. On Saturday night at the Puskas Arena, Arsenal have the chance to put that right and become European champions for the first time.
That is an attractive prize and opportunity awaiting Arteta. And since the Spaniard has already won the Premier League title, he can approach it with freedom and confidence.
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Arteta is now 90 minutes away from completing a league and Champions League double that only Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Alex Ferguson (twice) and Pep Guardiola have achieved here.
That would set Arteta apart from other teams.
Back in the 1930s, Chapman was an innovator and arguably laid the foundations for Arsenal and the current club. Mee was only his second manager when Arsenal won the league and FA Cup double in 1971, which was still incredibly difficult to do at the time.
As well as winning two league titles as a player, Graham also enjoyed great success as a manager, winning two league titles and winning the club’s last European trophy in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994.
Wenger is arguably Arsenal’s greatest manager ever, winning three trophies, including two doubles, and a record seven FA Cups, but failing to achieve European success.
There is no doubt that this is Wenger’s biggest regret. In 2004, Arsenal’s Invincibles were arguably the best team in Europe. They won the Premier League undefeated, but were eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League in four days.
The Treble was awarded to just one trophy, which shows how difficult it is to win multiple trophies in one season. That’s what distinguishes the greats.
These kinds of discussions are very difficult. How would you compare Sir Matt Busby to Jock Stein? Or Bill Shankly to Liverpool’s other great managers?
However, Wenger can safely be said to be in the league of Premier League greats such as Guardiola, Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Guardiola won 20 trophies in 10 years, but Fergie’s legacy of success certainly exceeds Mourinho’s.
But when it comes to Arsenal, Arteta has already transformed the club by winning their first title in 22 years. We have a special connection because he captained Arsenal, won the FA Cup and had a great passion for the club. He has already etched his name into the history books.
But this is your chance to take it to the next level. Arteta took over as manager in December 2019, but until this season, his efforts had only been shown in the 2020 FA Cup.
If they had ended this season empty-handed, there would have been questions. It’s just a small margin of football.
But now Arteta has the path and potential to become great. They already have one trophy. And if he wins a second trophy in his best season, it will cement him as an immortal in the sport.
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