UCL Debrief: Arsenal into the Champions League Final

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0:45Arsenal are into the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. They beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on the night to go through 2-1 on aggregate. Our commentary team at the Emirates was Matt Upson and our football correspondent John Murray. We are well over the five minutes of added time. Arsenal take the throw, Gabriel gets it away. Adletta come and drink, are out, Arsenal are in the final! Well, what a tie, what a tussle this has been, and Arsenal have won it 1-0 with Bukayo Saka's goal just before the break. and Arsenal this season of will they, won't they, can they, the top of the Premier League, and now they're in the Champions League final for the first time for 20 years, and for only the second time in the competition's history.

1:38And there's some ill feeling out there, there's some pushing and shoving. Atletico Madrid players, well, there's some frustration and anger, our dad. but there are scenes of great joy for the Arsenal players, the supporters in the stands, the players in a huddle together, and Arsenal have done it, they've knocked out Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone. 1-0 on the night, 2-1 on aggregate, and Matt Upson in the old-fashioned style. What did it? A 1-0 to the Arsenal. Well, it's just appropriate, isn't it, for a game like this between two teams where no one was going to give an inch. The Arsenal just nick it 1-0 and Saka pops up with a goal.

2:25I mean, talk about building something over the seasons is what Nicola Teta has done with this group of players. They're going just one step further every time. They want the Premier League so desperately that they also want this. And the supporters want it too and the feeling around this stadium. Wow, what an evening for the fans. And now Declan Rice is calling all of the Arsenal players together, he's calling Mikel Arteta, and now Mikel Arteta, they're gathering in front of the clock, to our right, and all together, Mikel Arteta's in there as well, and together running towards the Arsenal supporters, that's where that little gaggle of Arsenal ultras stand.

3:07In their black shirts, and they've run towards them as the red and white scarves go up around the Emirates Stadium. North London forever, and actually credit to the Atletico Madrid fans, they're doing likewise in the corner, none of them have left, they're all still here and they are applauding their players who have gone to another Champions League semi-final and fallen short, and now the Arsenal players are going to the North Bank stand as well. together Nicola Teta is right in the middle of that as they run downfield hand in hand, punching the air well these are unbridled celebrations that we're seeing inside the Emirates Stadium what a 24 hours they've had seeing Manchester City stumble at Everton and now the Premier League title is in their hands and tonight into the Champions League final this could well be one of the great seasons.

4:16Well, it could be one of the great nights in the Emirates, which Vic Arteta said before this game. I mean, even the gaggle of ultras are having a good party over there, John, aren't they? I mean, it is really jumping inside this stadium, and rightly so. What an achievement to make the Champions League final. Just incredible. So there we are. What a tense tussle this has been over the two legs in Madrid last week, here in London tonight, as the rain pours down on the Emirates Stadium. Fireworks in the air, smoke in the air. Arsenal 1, Atletico Madrid 0, 2-1 on aggregate, and Arsenal are in the Champions League final in Budapest.

5:00And Kelly Cates sitting next to us here. John Murray and Matthew Ops in here at the Emirates to watch as Arsenal reach that Champions League final. And Matt, Arsenal at most four games away potentially from a Premier League and Champions League double. It's not done yet, but have they ridden out the worst of the storm? I wouldn't want to say that too early. I mean, it's just how the season's changed. You know, all of a sudden, the mood is uplifted from being really concerning. and it's just been an unbelievable season in the Premier League, in the Champions League for many different reasons but the turn in form and fortune and to be in this stadium this evening celebrating after the result last night going to a Champions League final and actually I think Kelly they'll start to look forward to these Premier League fixtures that are left to play because there was a bit of dread building up to it and now I think it's more excitement based A lot of excitement and so much excitement here inside the ground.

6:08The players only just started to make their way off the pitch, but they're still high-fiving each other. Mikel Arteta is still celebrating with his backroom staff. The Arsenal fans are going absolutely nowhere. They've waited 20 years to reach a Champions League final. They've waited the entire existence of Arsenal to win either a Champions League trophy or a European cup, and they are 90 minutes away from lifting that famous trophy. They're top of the table in the Premier League as things stand. This could be an historic season for them. But obviously the Arsenal fans will be nervous at 1-0. But trying to look at it objectively from about an hour in, were Arsenal relatively comfortable in this game?

6:52Did they manage it really well? I felt so. I mean, that's why I said in the commentary, it doesn't look like there's too much going on here. I think Arsenal look in control. Now maybe you shouldn't say that because you're tempting fate, but it just felt like that. It felt like Atletico were going to have to produce an unbelievable piece of magic. Key players were off the field. They looked a little bit disjointed. They weren't really creating a lot. And Arsenal had the bit between their teeth. Gabriel was like a man possessed. I know he plays like that a lot of the time. Saliba's the slightly calmer one that just marshals and monitors and drops in.

7:27But Gabriel is just looking to have it with everyone and get in their face, get tight. It's great to watch. And I thought it was just a really confident performance of a team that have to believe they're at the elite table and they're good enough to go on and win this competition against two brilliant teams that are going to play tomorrow night. And this group can do it. They can definitely do it. And I think these kind of moments is what really kind of feeds that belief. Man, is it too much to say that this is a transformational moment for Arsenal? This victory? I think it could be. It could be things like this that play into the psyche of just that tiny little bit that's missing.

8:09And it is going to be missing because the group and the manager and the team haven't achieved this before. So every time you achieve something better or you do something better, you grow as a group, as an individual. and certainly that feeling that you are one of the best teams in Europe, you have to kind of cultivate that. It doesn't just happen. And winning football matches against top teams certainly helps. But Kiyosaka, I think, is the last Arsenal player to leave the pitch. But those players who've been at the club since they were young, who have that Arsenal mentality, that Arsenal DNA running through their veins, how much will this mean to them?

8:48Not just as players, but as fans of the club. Yeah, I mean, of course, it's a different feel, isn't it? I mean, as a group, what you achieve professionally is so special. But if you've come through the roots of the football club and, you know, you're local, you're all part of it, you have a different, a slightly more special affiliation, don't you, to the supporters, to the club. And he certainly has that. And I'm just so pleased that he's able to come on, start the game and impact it in the way that he did. It was an incredible impact from Bakayo Saka. and we'll look at the game itself in more detail between now and 10.30.

9:22But as the Arsenal fans just start to make their way out of this stadium, finally, after the final whistle went quite a while ago now, they are still celebrating, they are still dancing, they are still hugging each other, and they are still punching the air in celebration. They know that next step for Arsenal in their Champions League journey is a trip to Budapest. And Matt already, as they make their way out of here, all the conversations are going to be Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich. Is there a better option? I don't think so. I think they're both tough. Is there a better option? I mean, no is the answer.

10:02It's the Champions League final. Whoever you're going to be playing is going to be the most challenging game that you could possibly think of. And it certainly is that in this case. So the lovely thing is you play tonight. You get to go home and then you can sit back tomorrow, to watch the game unravel and have a good look at the team that you're going to be playing in the final. I mean, what a great occasion. What a great thing for the players to do. It is an incredible occasion for Arsenal. They've reached the Champions League final for just the second time in their history and their first time in 20 years.

10:36They have never lifted the trophy. This might be the season that they could do it. There have been so many doubters along the way, but tonight they've gone a long way to proving them wrong and of course they find themselves in pole position in the Premier League table and with three games left to play for Arsenal, they have it in their own hands. The game itself, John Murray, was relatively comfortable from about an hour in for Arsenal but just talk us through how they reached the Champions League final tonight. Well, it feels like party time at the Emirates tonight, doesn't it? Voulez-vous, what a 24 hours it's been.

11:15Manchester City dropped points in the Premier League last night, 24 hours later, Arsenal have edged their way through into only the club's second Champions League final and their first for 20 years. And it was indeed more of the same from last week, as we expected after the first leg in the Spanish capital. The goals last week were both penalties, tonight one goal was enough, 1-0 to the Arsenal for the ninth time this season, and Bukayo Saka with a six-yard box finish just before half-time after Trossard's shot was parried by Oblak, and Giocarez should get a mention as well for his part in the build-up to the goal.

11:55But what a tussle it was, fiercely competitive all the way, crucially, Atletico barely managed to carve out a clear chance all night, so fittingly, a clean sheet did the trick, their ninth in the Champions League this season and it will be Arsenal in Budapest on Saturday the 30th of May. Also with us this evening Rob Green. Rob in terms of the game itself as we've been saying Arsenal in control throughout the match not creating too many chances in that first half but that one shot that one goal from Bukaya Saka enough to take them to Budapest. It was routine, wasn't it, Kelly? And I mean that in the biggest compliment.

12:38It was almost like the occasion was bigger than the opposition and they made Atletico Madrid look ordinary. And they got the right side of the line. Be the right side of the line. Get that goal. It wasn't the most gracious of goals that Makaya Sakharov scored. Right time, right place. Nobody cares. But just be on the right side of the line. Be on the right side of history. And they have. And they've done it their way. And tonight it was a case of getting it done. And they've done that. And now, Rob, as we keep saying, they're potentially a maximum of four games away from a Premier League and Champions League double.

13:13At times this season, there have been criticism of Arsenal. They've been finger-pointing maybe about the number of opportunities they create from open play. Have they ridden that out now? Have they kind of got past those difficulties and are now heading into a period of the season that they can look forward to? Yeah, and you look back at the games and you look back at where they've been their strongest. and it has been in the Champions League and the group stages where they finished top, they're still unbeaten, and you look at it and you think, well, actually that served them a massive favour in terms of getting here.

13:44And you think about the opponents they could have faced in the semi-final, and they got Atletico Madrid, and you're looking at the games that they've got to play now, you're saying, actually, we've gone through all those rough patches against the bigger teams, against the better teams. Now we've got West Ham, Crystal Palace and Burnley to beat. And then the final, you almost got three practice matches in there because you feel they've got too much for those three teams. So it's something in there that they've got to find again where that free-flowing football can come back because as well as they did tonight, you feel they've got to go another level for the final.

14:20Matt, it's just worth pointing out to people exactly what's going on still inside this stadium because while everybody is leaving and there aren't too many people left in it, the ones that are, and there are journalists here who've covered Arsenal for years and years internally, who've written stories, written books, made documentaries about the club, who are running across to find their fans, who are just clutching each other and grabbing hold of each other. There's a sense of disbelief is probably too strong, but real joy. Yeah, there is. Because I think there was obviously a feeling that this couldn't go well.

14:54You know, this walkway next to us is just funneling people up, shouting at us. you know the supporters are so so happy and and i can understand why it's been a long time coming and it's been it's been a relatively drawn out journey in terms of it's a long time has been at the club took them over and then it's been promising this kind of game this kind of outcome and the group's delivered and and the club get a day out in the champions league final you know it's just fantastic Kelly it's worth remembering it's been a while since they've been regulars in the Champions League they've done it for a few seasons now but before that it's been years since they've been in the actual Champions League itself so you know this growth has been as Matt as saying it it's been coming I think why you're seeing this Kelly is because of that period where we doubted them didn't we and there was that feeling that it could all crumble the fact that it went so far this season where they still had the possibility of doing the quadruple.

15:57And then we got that spell at the end of March and into April where they lost four out of six matches. And there was that feeling on the outside that it was all going wrong. Lost at Manchester City. But after that defeat at Manchester City, when actually they played well in that match, they've been able to right the ship. There is a question around that Manchester City match. and despite the fact that they lost it, did that performance go some way to sparking the games that we've seen since, the performances that we've seen since and, most importantly, the result that we've seen tonight, Matt?

16:36Yeah, I just think that it's the territory that you have to go to if you want to be a top team and there's going to be disappointments and there's going to be times when you're going to play well and get beat and you have to show character and you have to show some real grit and determination and I think they did that at Manchester City and performed really well, could have easily come away with a point and they weren't in the rhythm for that game, they weren't in good form. Manchester City were in the ascendancy and were doing much better so to come away and play like that was fantastic but I think you've just got to have that inner belief, Kelly.

17:12It doesn't matter what game you play, in what competition, who you're playing against, what the outcome of the game is, the best teams keep going and they keep pushing and believing they're going to win the next game. And if they don't, they'll want to believe they win the next game. And that's what they've done. They've had to push through that difficult period where you go out of two competitions in the space of probably seven or eight days and it was a real kick in the teeth. But they've come back, they've now got to celebrate this. So it's worth going through the pain. Rob, I want to talk about Mikel Arteta as well now.

17:42And first of all, just purely in relation to this game, The fact that he went for that team that started against Fulham at the weekend. And it came as a bit of a surprise to everybody. I'm not sure that anybody would have necessarily picked that team before kickoff in this match. But it paid off. Yeah, and I think it added to the sense of, not exuberance, but a good feeling around the ground. Before the game, they went, right, it played well. The guys played well. Let's go for it. And it has been since that Manchester City team, since they named the 11 there. he's been very much a let's go for it type of 11 and this was no different and you felt that the way that they've gone about it has been front foot they've been stepping forward onto games and it was like that tonight even when they were 1-0 up and you thought maybe you go into a shelves and you thought they might revert to type of what we used to they didn't they kept pressing forward Jorquez closed down the centre-half on a 60-yard run, hopeless.

18:43It was absolutely pointless chasing, but it dragged the whole team up the pitch. And they all did it. They went and went again. And this is why Atletico Madrid didn't have that opportunity. They just didn't see the moment where Arsenal blinked. And they haven't blinked. And you feel they're going to carry on doing that. And can they do that in the final? We'll just have to wait and see now. particularly the inclusion of Myles Lewis-Skelly because although he's played a lot of his junior football and his development football in midfield and that was his position as a kid, once he's come into this Arsenal first team, he's been playing a full-back match.

19:21So to play him in midfield against Fulham, to start him in midfield against Fulham and then to start him in a Champions League semi-final with the score at 1-0 is a huge call. Yeah, everything I hear about this lad is pointing towards the fact that people talked about, not about how good a footballer he is, but about the character that he is. And I hear really positive things about him being able to cope with situations. And how he does it or why perhaps it's just a character trait, but he has the ability to rationalise things and then go and deliver at various different levels, at different ages, which is why, I mean, he slipped into international football, scoring on, it was his debut he scored for England, I think it was, wasn't it, John?

20:09He scored the first goal in the Thomas Tugall. Yeah, exactly. So to be able to do that, you've got to have a little bit of something special. And then he's had to deal with the fact, right, you're at the team. So you're not getting your football, you're not getting the accolade, you're not topping up the confidence bottle week in, week out. and then you come to play in a game like this at the end of the season in midfield. He's got an amazing attitude and way and belief system and can absorb information but also I just think he's a genuinely nice person that wants to do well, loves the club, wants to move on and loves being here.

20:45So you put all that in the mix and you get a player that can then step onto this stage and perform how he did. Didn't look out of place at all. Did some really good things with the ball, was very steady. I like him in that position, and I think probably with his skill set, it suits him. He doesn't get as exposed as much with those sharp runs or pacey runs in Maham, which I think he really struggles with at times. But with the ball and in those close quarters in midfield, he looked really good with Declan Rice. It's worth remembering as well that you've got to give credit to Arteta in this, in that he's recognised that big game, big occasion, big players.

21:21£60 million signing Zubimendi. No, you stay there. You stay there. This isn't your time. And it's been really interesting that he's picked this moment for Luis Skelly. I don't know what he's seen. Why do you think he's done that, Greeny? I mean, it's hard to put your finger on why, isn't it? Yeah, and it's just a moment, isn't it? Where there's something in training clicked. A gut feeling. Yeah, just as a manager, you just go for these things sometimes. And it's come off. It's been fascinating. But it's also making me think of Mikel Arteta's apprenticeship under Pep Guardiola. and that was the accusation at times with him in big games, that he would make changes.

21:58He would make these calls that people from the outside would think of as strange, but they didn't pay off a lot of time. And that would be why Manchester City would go out of European competition. It happened more than once with them. And yet when Arteta has had to make the call, Rob, he's done that and he's raised eyebrows, he's surprised people and come away with a victory. Yeah, it is fascinating. And it is something that he's seen somewhere, somewhere in it. And Lewis Skelly is someone who progresses the ball possibly better than Zubomendi. He is more suited to play him possibly alongside as a two with Declan Rice in there to push him along.

22:38The intelligence of wanting them dropping in between the centre-halves, controlling the game in there. One of the two goes, the other one finds the little angle to add another dimension. and he sees something there that Zouba Menni doesn't and it's suited them for this afternoon, this evening's game. Whether he does that again in the next game, I don't know. It's this niche, this unique in a moment. It's something that might just happen these two games. We'll have to see. And we will have to wait and see who Arsenal will face in the final, whether it is Bayern Munich or whether it is Paris Saint-Germain.

23:11But we talk a lot, Matt, as well about how difficult the Premier League is and how difficult it is for teams to rest players in order to compete properly in the Champions League. Atletico Madrid able to make 10 changes at the weekend. Arsenal, although they did make a few changes for the game at Fulham, they were able to bring players off. Saka came off at half-time and he was able to kind of, having got the three-goal advantage, to change players and give them a few more minutes rest at least during the course of that game. But I don't know whether it's better to have the rhythm or whether it's better to have the rest.

23:47Yeah, I think you can look at it in two different ways. I think the perfect balance is what you said in terms of you're getting up for the game, you're playing in the game, you're getting your feel, your timing, the speed, the sharpness, but then you're able to manage minutes because the team's doing well, right, I can take them off and I can rest Saka. Because there's certain, like centre-backs, for instance, you can kind of churn games out and goalkeepers. Do you know what I mean? They just stand about on the line, Kelly. You know, it's just... There's no mental focus at all, isn't there, Rob?

24:18But other positions that require probably more sharpness and liveliness and creativity and bits of thought, I think that if you can rotate those, which Arsenal could do against Fulham, and you get those minutes in the bank and then you can come off and manage that, I think that's your perfect one personally. Because as a player, I just used to love keep playing. While we're talking about defenders and goalkeepers, Arsenal have averaged 0.63 goals conceded per game under Arteta in the Champions League this season. It's the lowest ratio of any manager with more than 20 games in the competition. It is very much, as much as they have those incredible attacking players, it is very much, Rob, a safety-first approach from Arsenal.

25:02And it was aggressive, aggressively safety first. I think Matt talked about Gabriel being the behemoth that he was at the back. But everything tonight, off the ball, on the ball, felt like it was front-footed. And you look at how they went about the defending. It was in an aggressive manner. They really did nullify Atletico Madrid. It made them look really, really ordinary, I have to say. You thought they didn't really know how to go about it, how to create a chance. Solal had that one shot which he mishit in the second half. That was it. You were expecting an opportunity for them and nothing came because they just stayed so aggressive.

25:44And to not blink, to not step back and to not recognise the occasion. We're minutes away from the Champions League final. But just to keep true to it is a team full of confidence in where they are and full of confidence in the defence that they've got. Well, did you think that Jochores was a big part of that as well, Greeny, the way they defended? I thought, Howie, I mean, I'm just looking at the replay on the little screens here of his charge. It's such a shame he couldn't finish. I mean, it's just that finishing touch and a bit of quality there. If he could have just sealed that with a goal, it would have been a top performance.

26:18It would have made it. Yeah, you'd have said, great, you know what, you've earned that because you've done all the other bits as well. He ran the two centre-halves ragged. He got the better of them in the physical challenges. And his touch was good as well, wasn't it? Yeah, was cuter than them, was smarter than them, won a lot of free kicks there, and you just thought that that was the one bit, and that was the bit where you thought, Atletico Madrid are going to get a chance now, and they didn't, because Arsenal just kept on going. There was the heart-in-mouth moment, though, was that incident when Saliba headed the ball.