Kolkata: And onwards to Budapest. Arsenal remain the team with the most Champions League matches without a trophy but the dream of a double is alive. Whisper it.
Bukayo Saka’s 44th minute poacher’s goal took them past Atletico Madrid 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to their second Champions League final. And a first since 2006. Saka was four when that happened. Four years later, he joined the Arsenal academy.
After a new deal in February that will keep him at the club till 2030, Saka is Arsenal’s best paid player. BBC is saying his salary is in excess of £300,000 per week. “I want to be able to look back and see a kid that started aged seven, eight years old on trial for Arsenal and then went the whole way to win every trophy that there is available to win,” he has said. On Tuesday night, he was their captain.
This was Saka’s fifth goal contribution in 10 Champions League matches this season, one interrupted by an Achilles injury. Saka had a goal and an assist at the weekend against Fulham, keeping Arsenal’s quest for a first Premier League title in 22 years on course. That was his first start since the injury in March. In his second, Saka ran into space during a well-worked routine from a corner-kick, Arsenal’s first, but shot wide. Then, he combined with Ben White and Eberechi Eze to work a slick move before it broke down in the 40th.
Four minutes later, after Jan Oblak parried a snap shot from Leandro Trossard, Saka scored. Oblak had left the charge when William Saliba found Viktor Gyokeres with a raking ball but had tracked back by the time the Swede crossed to Trossard. Even with Giuliano Simeone trying to block him, Trossard managed a curler with little backlift.
The first television shots of the Emirates stadium showed smoke flares and a huge tifo that said “Over Land and Sea.” It is a popular Arsenal chant representative of fans going everywhere to follow the club. As Saka struck, the stadium shook. “The supporters were with us for every ball…. I have never felt it like that in this stadium,” said Mikel Arteta.
The Arsenal manager has spoken of Gyokeres hitting form at the right time. He could say that about Saka as well. Saka’s ability to drift inside, beat defenders, the accuracy of his deliveries and his understanding with right back Ben White will need to be excellent for the rest of the season. Defeats against Bournemouth and Manchester City had threatened to derail a league campaign. It needed Saka to get Arsenal back to their early-season free-flowing football going against Fulham.
And it needed goals from Gyokeres. After his penalty in Madrid and two goals and an assist against Fulham, Gyokeres had another standout night. The big Swede used his strength to hassle Atleti’s back three and draw fouls. He ran 10.56km, the most by an Arsenal player, and could have settled the issue in the 68th minute but volleyed over a Piero Hincapie delivery.
Trossard on the left, Declan Rice dropping into defence and also running almost 60 yards to find Gyokeres and the solidity of the back four meant Arsenal never really lost control. This was Arsenal’s ninth clean sheet in 14 Champions League matches.
Arsenal were also helped by Arteta again using Myles Lewis-Skelly in central midfield. Lewis-Skelly, 19, showed he has not forgotten what he learnt as central midfielder at the Arsenal academy he joined at age eight. Comfortable on the ball in tight areas, he helped Arsenal play out from the back and also add numbers to the attack. After Mikel Merino as false nine, this is another example of Arteta doing what his one-time boss Pep Guardiola has often done.
Atleti pressed high at the start. Antoine Griezmann found Simeone Jr and his pass fell nicely for Julian Alvarez but the shot was wide. But as Arsenal began to beat the press, the visiting side settled into a low block. It led to a tight, intense match, one where Arsenal were lucky that Gabriel Magalhaes could clear even though he was on the wrong side of Simeone Jr. They were also lucky that Ricardo Calafiori’s foul on Griezmann in the 56th minute did not lead to a penalty because of an earlier foul on Gabriel by Marc Pubill.
West Ham, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Budapest stand between Arsenal and an immortality ode. “Everybody can feel a shift in energy, in belief,” said Arteta.
