Article by Robert Vîrdol – Published on Thursday, 16 April 2026, 01:12 / Updated on Thursday, 16 April 2026 01:12
Arsenal qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League, after going 1-0 overall in the double with Sporting Lisbon. “The Gunners” will play in the next leg against those from Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal are not going through the best period of the season. Mikel Arteta overcame the first hop of the week, 0-0 draw in the second leg with Sporting and qualification for the semi-finals of the Champions League. Next up is the title derby in the Premier League, on the field of rival Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta spoke about the performance of his players and congratulated them for their efforts throughout the game.
Mikel Arteta: “We will have two magical nights, one in Madrid and one here”
“My message was of gratitude to the players. I know the effort and commitment they are putting in. It was a lot of work behind the scenes and we did something that has never happened before in the history of our club. We had to do it in a special way, missing a lot of important players, so he deserves a lot of credit for that.
I'm especially happy for the supporters, because they were completely with the team today. We will have two magical nights, one in Madrid and one here,” said Mikel Arteta at the end of the game.
It was a really tough test over two matches. To reach the semi-finals in two consecutive seasons is a tremendous achievement for this group and now we want to go one step further and reach the final. We played Atletico once this year and it was a very good game, we know what to expect.
– Declan Rice, Arsenal midfielder, for TNT Sport
