Four games in 25 days stand between Champions League finalists Arsenal and unfathomable glory | OneFootball

It was an innocent and entirely explicable slip, perhaps the only one Mikel Arteta suffered across an impeccably coached Champions League semi-final second leg.

When asked before the game whether the swashbuckling win against Fulham or Manchester City’s subsequent collapse at the Hill Dickinson had invigorated the Gunners more, Arteta referenced “the performance against Everton, the fact that we won the game, and then obviously the enthusiasm that everybody has towards” the visit of Atletico.

He can be forgiven for having misspoken; the shift of momentum in the last week or so must have left even the sharpest Arsenal minds utterly scrambled.

The consequence of four transformative days is four life-altering matches. On Friday, Arsenal were nervous Premier League leaders with a flimsy advantage, and European semi-finalists whose tie rested on a knife edge. By Tuesday evening, they know that winning less than a handful of matches in the next 25 days solidifies this as the single greatest season in the club’s history.

West Ham away. Burnley at home. Crystal Palace away. Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in Budapest. Those are the remaining obstacles. But for the first time, Arsenal can see beyond them. They have never been this close to such a glorious finish line, with unprecedented glory so tangible.

For years Arsenal have been accused of celebrating like they have won the Premier League or Champions League. By the end of the month there might be a proper gauge as to what that looks and sounds like.

There was a preview of sorts at the Emirates. Arteta had “never seen or felt an atmosphere like this”. A stadium that seemed wracked with anxiety so recently – Tyler Adams said “there was a sense of nervousness” from the stands that translated to the pitch and allowed Bournemouth to thrive in their 2-1 win here last month – roared the hosts on throughout.

The bus welcome, the tifo, the energy, the hostility, the celebrations with the supporters when their first Champions League final in two decades was secured; that palpable disconnect between the fans, the manager and his squad was eradicated.

“We made history again together,” Arteta said after a club record-equalling 41st win of the campaign.

That theme of togetherness relies on a symbiotic relationship, and this Arsenal performance fulfilled the remit. Atletico started quickly but were soon stifled. They had two shots in the opening 11 minutes through Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez, thwarted by Declan Rice and William Saliba respectively, but they did not have another effort on goal for the rest of the first half.

Arsenal asserted their dominance in that period but unlike myriad prior iterations of this team, they made it count. Viktor Gyokeres’ tireless running and hold-up play and Leandro Trossard’s quick feet and thinking laid the groundwork for Bukayo Saka to react fastest to a Jan Oblak save to convert from a matter of yards.

It was never going to be plain sailing from there. Arsenal survived a couple of controversial penalty-adjacent situations – and might point to the first-leg shenanigans as immediate proof that These Things Even Themselves Out – while Alexander Sorloth scuffed a glorious opportunity when played in late on.

The irrepressible Gyokeres ought to have scored himself from a stunning Piero Hincapie cross, with four of the game’s last six shots coming from the hosts. Arsenal did not simply rest on their lead in the knowledge it would provide safe passage; they pushed for more with the stakes at their highest.

That bodes well, considering just how unfathomably narrow the tightrope leading to Arteta’s promised land is about to become.