Mikel Arteta insists his Arsenal players are “hungry” and “want more” after knocking out reigning champions Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
PSG lie in wait for Arteta’s side after goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu and 5-1 aggregate victory as the Gunners produced a memorable display over two legs.
Saka had earlier seen his chipped penalty saved and Vinicius Junior had levelled for Real, but Arsenal experienced a surprisingly trouble-free night in the Spanish capital to book their place in the last four for the first time in over a decade.
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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 16, 2025
And the Arsenal manager, and former player at Real’s great rivals Barcelona, struggled to hide his joy at the final whistle
“[It’s] one of the best nights of my football career, for sure,” Arteta said.
“We played against the team with the biggest history, who have been an inspiration to all of us in this competition.
“To be able to win the tie in the manner that we did it, I think we have to be very proud of ourselves.
“It was my first experience on that [Bernabeu] touchline and after two or three minutes you realise anything can happen in this stadium.
“It’s only the third time in the club’s history we have done that [reach the semi-finals] so we need to build on that. We are really hungry, we want more. It is a young team that is very determined. These experiences are going to help us to achieve something big.
“We had full belief that we were going to beat this team [Real] and that we could dominate them. Then you have to do it and the players did it.”
The goal that put the nail in Real Madrid’s coffin!
Martinelli with a clinical finish to book Arsenal’s place in the Champions League semi-final ⭐
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 16, 2025
Arteta insisted the victory will give his team a lot of confidence going into the two-legged semi-final but he believes a stern test awaits his squad.
Looking ahead to PSG, the Arsenal boss added: “They are an incredible team. I know the manager [Luis Enrique] really, really well and let’s enjoy tonight and start to think about that one soon.
“They are a different team now. They are on an incredible run at the moment. But we showed tonight that we can compete against any team.
“The mindset is going to be to prepare well and go through. We want to be in that final. We are going to have to work so hard and do a lot of good things but we are certainly capable of doing it.”
