Ahead of the first leg of their semi-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain, Mikel Arteta told reporters that Arsenal must “earn the right” to compete in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday 31 May.
The Gunners stunned Real Madrid over two legs to reach the final four of the competition, with Arteta suggesting that a Champions League semi-final tie is “probably one of the biggest games that the Emirates has seen since we built it.”
“We have to have the feeling that we have to hold them back tomorrow to go on that pitch and express themselves. This is a moment now to say, ok this is who we are, this is who we are as a team, this is who I am as an individual and I’m going to put my very best in there to make it happen,” the Spaniard said of the squad’s mentality ahead of the match, which gets underway at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST] on Tuesday.
“Play with that mindset and let yourself go. Everything now is about, where are the limits, and how far do I want to go.”
The 43-year-old expressed that the fact Arsenal have “overcome a lot of issues and challenges, and the fact that the team is here as one of the four best teams in Europe […] tells you about the mindset, the spirit and how much we really want it.”
It’s a trophy that has evaded the Gunners in previous years, and Arteta is relishing an “incredible opportunity” to write a new chapter in the club’s history, insisting that “we are here to make people happy, to create history and we are very close. Now we have to take the opportunity and make it happen.”
“It’s the nicest competition for any European club, we’ve never done it, so we need to earn the right to be in that final and everything is going to start tomorrow.”
With Renée Slegers’ Arsenal Women having completed a comeback victory on Sunday to defeat Olympique Lyonnais and reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League final, Arteta revealed “they’ve been an inspiration.”
“It’s been incredible what they’ve done, and to achieve it in the manner that they’ve done it. Again, for us, it’s just showing the road, the pathway, how we can do it and how inspiring it is for us because we want to be there as well.”