Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Mikel Arteta have all shared their thoughts on a ‘special’ atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Arsenal fans were certainly up for Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final second leg match against Atletico Madrid, with thousands of supporters turning up hours before kick-off to welcome the team buses, lining the streets in a parade.
That atmosphere carried through to the stands, with fans chanting as loudly as they do during a game even 15 minutes prior to the start of the match.
Then, when the game finally got underway, goalscorer Bukayo Saka says the supporters pushed the team the whole way through to the end.
“We felt it,” Saka said to CBS Sports. “Since we were on the coach, I’ve never seen the Emirates like this in my whole career. I’ve played so many games here. It was so special.
“When the game started, they pushed us, from the start to the end. It was just a beautiful moment, this is probably the biggest game the Emirates has ever hosted, and it was a successful one.
“All the fans that were here will go home and remember this night forever. So yeah, we can all be happy with that.”
Club captain Martin Odegaard agreed with that assessment, suggesting the stadium was ‘on fire’ with the atmosphere the fans created, ultimately leading to a 1-0 win and progression to the final.
“Unbelievable, such a special night, such an amazing moment for the team, for the club, for our supporters, for everyone,” Odegaard told Sky Sports.
“It was beautiful, and we’ve been working hard towards this type of moment. We said that we wanted to go further than last year, and we did it.
“It was such a beautiful night. The stadium was on fire. Playing a Champions League final is unbelievable and something we all have been dreaming about our whole lives.”
Manager Mikel Arteta was also delighted with what he saw from the supporters, telling the media as much both before and after the game.
“I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this when we were about to enter the stadium. Great to see,” Arteta said to Prime Video before the game, before adding afterwards: “The manner that we got to see outside the stadium was special and unique.
“The atmosphere that our supporters created, the energy, the way they lived every ball with us, it made it special and unique. I never felt that in the stadium. We knew how much it meant to everybody. We put everything in, the boys did an incredible job.”
Everyone had a part to play to see Arsenal through to their first Champions League final in 20 years, and everyone was up to the task. The fans can now start dreaming about Budapest.
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