Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on Brink of Ending 21-Year Wait for English and European Silverware

Arsenal four games from glory after beating Atletico to set up Budapest final

Arsenal booked their first Champions League final appearance in 20 years with a 2-1 aggregate win over Atletico Madrid, as Mikel Arteta eyes a historic league and European double.

Bukayo Saka’s goal sealed a 1-0 second-leg victory, putting Arsenal four wins away from a first Premier League title since 2004...

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to channel the “energy and belief” from reaching their first Champions League final in two decades into securing a historic league and European double.

True to form, the Gunners manager was a whirlwind of emotion on Tuesday, joining his players for a celebratory lap around the Emirates after a 1-0 second-leg victory over Atletico Madrid sealed a 2-1 aggregate win.

Bukayo Saka’s first-half tap-in secured a 2-1 aggregate win and booked Arsenal’s return to the Champions League final, their first since the 2006 loss to Barcelona.

The club now sit four matches away from a place in history, with three victories from their remaining Premier League fixtures against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace enough to clinch a first domestic title since 2004.

Once the Premier League race with Manchester City is settled, Arteta’s team will head to Budapest on May 30 to take on either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich as they pursue a maiden European crown.

PSG enter Wednesday’s second leg in Munich with a narrow 5-4 aggregate lead, looking to repeat last year’s semi-final win over Arsenal and defend their title.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will arrive in Budapest full of momentum and emotion after Tuesday’s scenes of celebration, as Arteta and his squad shared the moment with 60,000 roaring fans at the Emirates.

The significance of the night was evident well before kickoff, when a sea of supporters packed the streets around the stadium, greeting the team bus with red flares, flags and passionate chants that set the tone for the evening.

In the midst of the post-match jubilation, Arteta was brimming with excitement and urged his team to carry that same intensity into the final push for both the Premier League and Champions League titles.

“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.”

On the cusp of history. pic.twitter.com/sFLDPSU91I

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 6, 2026

A Moment 20 Years in the Making

It’s been more than 20 years since Arsène Wenger’s “Invincibles” went unbeaten to lift the Premier League in 2004.

Arteta Rekindles the Wenger Era Spirit

That 2006 Champions League final loss to Barcelona marked the start of Wenger’s decline, but Arteta now seems to have revived the same identity and belief that defined that golden squad.

Rebuilding Trust Between Team and Supporters

For over six years, Arteta has worked to forge a genuine connection between the squad and the fanbase, a relationship that has been tested during a trophy drought stretching back to the 2020 FA Cup win.

The Formula Clicking at the Right Time

This season, Arteta has finally found the right balance, putting Arsenal on the verge of putting an end to three straight second-place finishes in the Premier League.

TOGETHER. UNTIL THE END. pic.twitter.com/8jLiSjLqio

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 5, 2026

“It was an incredible night. We made history 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 special and unique, and I have never felt it like that in this stadium.

“We knew how much it meant to everybody, we put everything on the line, the boys did an incredible job.”

Securing both the Champions League and Premier League in one season would mark the most remarkable campaign in Arsenal’s 140-year history.

Nights like these ✨ pic.twitter.com/aXnEQ0vrat

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 5, 2026

Arteta is quick to credit his players, saying he never envisioned being this close to such success when he took on his first managerial role in 2019.

“They are the ones that have to make these kind of performances. 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.”