{"id":650991,"date":"2026-05-05T11:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650991\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:07:14","slug":"bullish-arteta-urges-arsenal-to-make-next-step-as-atletico-battle-resumes-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650991\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullish Arteta urges Arsenal to \u2018make next step\u2019 as Atl\u00e9tico battle resumes | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times for Arsenal. As his side prepares to face Atl\u00e9tico Madrid in the decisive act of their second successive Champions League<\/a> semi-final, it is easy to forget that they have only reached this stage on four occasions in their entire history.<\/p>\n

But 20 years after Ars\u00e8ne Wenger\u2019s team edged past Villarreal in the last European match to be played at Highbury, Arsenal have their best opportunity since then to reach a second final after a campaign where they have swept all before them. The 1-1 draw in last week\u2019s first leg in Madrid<\/a> made it 13 matches unbeaten in this year\u2019s Champions League \u2013 the only club to have achieved that feat \u2013 and also matched Wenger\u2019s longest run without a defeat in Europe\u2019s premier competition.<\/p>\n

That was ended by Barcelona in the 2006 final at the Stade de France after Sol Campbell gave Arsenal an early lead, an occasion that remains the closest they have come to lifting the famous old trophy. Yet even with the daunting prospect of facing the winners of the Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain tie in Budapest later this month if they can get past battle-hardened Atl\u00e9tico, Arteta has reason to feel optimistic. Bukayo Saka\u2019s sensational return to form against Fulham on Saturday<\/a> has reignited their Premier League title challenge, with a first trophy since the FA Cup in 2020 now within tantalising reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done it many years ago, the thing that I had in mind for this club,\u201d said Arteta when asked if he had visualised the captain, Martin \u00d8degaard, lifting the Champions League. \u201cYou can never promise to win major trophies. You can promise to work every single day with the vision and implementing, and being determined with the ideas and the decisions that you take to bring this club to be one of the best in Europe. Here we are, now we have to make the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arsenal<\/a> manager was ridiculed by many for suggesting after last year\u2019s semi-final defeat by PSG that they had been the \u201cmuch better\u201d team over the two legs. While it was true that Gianluigi Donnarumma made some sensational saves to see the French side through, Arsenal never really looked capable of beating a team that had already eliminated two other English clubs on their way to winning their first European title.<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta is all smiles during training. After last season\u2019s near miss, he has another chance to reach the Champions League final. Photograph: Glyn Kirk\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

PSG\u2019s victory at the Emirates Stadium in the first match was the only home defeat Arsenal have suffered in 18 Champions League matches under Arteta, having won 14, scoring 43 goals and conceding only eight. That should give their supporters hope of getting past an Atl\u00e9tico side that were dispatched 4-0 during the league phase<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

However, Diego Simeone \u2013 who revealed before the first leg that he had dinner with Arteta after that game \u2013 will no doubt have his gameplan fully rehearsed. Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s historic win at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their quarter-final against Barcelona showed they are capable of getting a result away from home, with Antoine Griezmann \u2013 still going strong at the age of 35 \u2013 having scored at the Emirates in the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t play the games beforehand, you just have to stay calm,\u201d said the France forward, who played in Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s last appearance in the final 10 years ago when he missed a penalty before they lost to their arch-rivals Real Madrid in a shootout. Griezmann is set to join the MLS side Orlando City next season and admitted he had considered that this could be his last European game for the club where he has made almost 500 appearances. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019m thinking about,\u201d he said. \u201cYou think these moments will always come back around but sometimes they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viktor Gy\u00f6keres scored a vital penalty in the first leg before Arsenal were denied a second spot-\u200akick after it was initially awarded by the referee for a foul on Eberechi Eze, before being overturned. The Sweden striker has not missed a penalty since February 2024 when he was still at Sporting \u2013 a run of 27 in a row \u2013 and took his season\u2019s tally to 21 with two goals against Fulham.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t try to think too much and just put it in the back of the net,\u201d he said in typically straight-talking fashion when asked what goes through his mind when he is about to take a spot-kick.<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid players familiarise themselves with the Emirates pitch. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gy\u00f6keres stayed tight-lipped about whether the rest of Arsenal\u2019s players have been practising their penalties should they be necessary against Atl\u00e9tico. It remains a strong possibility given the fine margins involved at this stage of the competition and he is determined not to leave anything to chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are in this position for a reason,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been incredible so far, what we have done this season. But we know we have got to get over the line.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-650991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}