Mikel Arteta was on a high following our 2-1 win against Real Madrid that secured our spot in the last four of the Champions League, and it showed when he held his post-match press conference.
The boss was asked about where the result sits in our history, what it does for him and our players, and the rest of the competition.
Here is what he said:
on if he's ever felt prouder of his players:
Probably not. Not only because we're in the semi-final for the third time in our history now, but also because of the way we did it. Not only because of the way we played, but also because of the circumstances, the amount of injuries we had. That shows the character of this team, of this club, and it’s a night to be very proud of.
on Declan Rice's performance:
He was decisive today in a different way, I think it was immense. His presence, the power that he showed, how composed he was, with or without the ball, I think he led the team in many moments and turns the game in our favour. I think that's why we need players at his level to step up and have a big contribution, and he certainly has done that.
on what this result can give us:
The feeling that we have is our reality, basically. And in the feeling that I had before the game, when the players were transmitting and how prepared I could feel the team, that we are ready to compete against anybody. Now we have to continue to do that because I think we have some momentum now.
on if we can go from challenges to winners:
It's certainly another massive step. Where we finished last year and the way we're doing it this year, the teams with their eyes on us and the competition, it's incredible. Big credit to [Madrid}, it was my first time as a coach in that dugout and today I realised after three minutes in this stadium, anything is possible. They are specialists of creating such chaos and belief, and it's very difficult to understand really what's going on in the game and have certain certainty about how we controlled it. I think they showed a lot of maturity.
on Bukayo Saka’s character:
I can go on and on with individuals and a lot of different cases, I will answer in that same way. With Bukayo, he stepped up, he didn't score, obviously, that could be a turning point emotionally in the game because it gives him a lot of belief. But then the way he handled the situation, the way he played afterwards, and the personality that he showed at his age. It's the first time he's played in this stadium, it's incredible.
on what tonight shows in our evolution:
It's been quite different before because it was impossible to be in any round because the club wasn't in the Champions League for seven years. So, that shows you the turnaround, and a lot of great decisions that the club has made and the contribution a lot of people have made to be where we are. It's a team that you can feel today how hungry, how determined and ambitious that is to go. We're going for more, for sure.
on what this result gives him:
It's reassuring. I'm here to experience these kind of games and to go through them. I know that some days you're going to win, some days you're going to lose. So, be very critical with yourself tonight. There are things that we can still do much better and I have to help the team to do better. The biggest pride is when I look at them and I talk to them, how convinced they feel and that's been part of our job and of the coaches, and that's why it's a joy to work with them.
on if the boss prepared the players mentally for a game at the Bernabeu:
We had certain tools to try to do that, but actually to do it when it's live, you realise how difficult it is! I think we've done it and we've done it in many moments in a really clear way. The game can drive you to a scenario that against them, they are not good at all, and we were very clear on how we have to get out of that and how we managed to do it.
on the noise our supporters made:
Incredible - thank you so much to all the supporters that have been with us in this journey, in Madrid, around the hotel, and feeling that belief and support towards them. I think it's the purpose of our job to make our people happy. Hopefully, they feel very proud about the players and the team. Now, let's go for more.
on becoming the first team to win at the Bernabeu in our first two games:
I didn't know that stat before, so, it's great to be part of history. We are really happy tonight, certainly not satisfied. We have an amazing tie now against PSG, a team that we know really well and we have already played against, so, let's start to prepare for that.
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