Mikel Arteta spoke to the media after tonight’s incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid at the Emirates.
Here’s what he had to say to the TV dude.
What a night for Arsenal …
Beautiful. I’m so happy, so proud of the team and we have the opportunity to make a lot of people happy and proud, and we certainly have done that.
How much did tonight’s atmosphere play into what happened?
Incredible. I’ve never seen a stadium like this. We talked before that for big European nights you need big stadiums that can create atmosphere, and you need individual magic moments … and there we go.
This is one of those nights isn’t it where people will say in 20 years I was there the night that Declan Rice scored his first two ever direct free kicks.
That’s the beauty of who invented this sport. That’s against any stat because he never scored a free kick. We haven’t scored a free kick since September 2021. And tonight against Real Madrid at home in the Champions League we scored two in 12 minutes.
Will the set-piece coach claim the goals?!
He can if he wants, it doesn’t matter. It’s about practising, it’s about keep trying and then delivering on what he’s done is incredible.
Did you see those free kicks coming?
If there is a player who can do it and how he strikes the ball, how clean he is, it’s Dec. But then you have to execute it at the highest level against probably one of the best keepers in the world as well. So, amazing.
What was his half-time message?
Basically to simplify the game. We were doing things very well but at the end we were lacking that final connection, that simplicity to find the next pass. And especially to help them a bit more than we’ve done in the wide areas. But we managed to do that in the second half much better.
Was Saka key?
Yes, he was. I mean he elevated the level of the team. It’s a fear factor every time he’s on the ball that they have to back off because he’s incredible. He’s a real threat and on top of that he generates more space for the rest of the team.
He came off. How was he?
He’s fine. I think it was a kick on the free-kick action.
Real Madrid, in all their history, great history, have never come back from three goals down after the first leg.
OK. So we need to go there. We know that we’re going to have to step up again and prepare the game to win it.
Is it a defining night for Arteta?
It’s another step in the right direction as a team that against any team we have the capacity to do it. And we have to make another one, which is go to the Bernabeu and replicate what we’ve done tonight.
Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid – Player Ratings
