Mikel Arteta has built one of the strongest teams in Europe, and the numbers behind Arsenal’s success speak for themselves.
Arsenal have the chance to etch their names into the history books and win the UEFA Champions League for the very first time in their history. The Gunners will look to become the 25th club to win the competition when they face either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain in the final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Saturday, May 30.
The clash will mark the conclusion of the 71st season of Europe’s top-flight club competition and the 34th since it was renamed the Champions League. It’s the first time that Arsenal have reached the final in 20 years, when they lost to Barcelona in the Stade de France in Paris.
Mikel Arteta will also have the chance to finally lift a major piece of silverware in front of the Gooners. Since replacing Unai Emery in the dugout six-and-a-half years ago, the Gunners boss has only managed to win the FA Cup.
Shortly after taking the reins in north London, he led Arsenal to a 2-1 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup final, which was played behind-closed-doors due to the pandemic. Although Arteta extended the Gunners’ record as the most successful club in the competition with 14 titles, he hasn’t won a major trophy since.
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That said, after years of hard work and ridicule, the Spaniard has built one of the strongest teams in Europe, and the statistics speak for themself. So, football.london has taken a look at Arsenal’s season in numbers.
- According to Opta, of the 44 instances of a team playing 14 or more games in a Champions League campaign, Arsenal are now the only side to remain unbeaten through their first 14 matches of a single edition.
- According to Transfermarkt, Arsenal have conceded fewer goals per game (0.69 – 41 goals in 59 games) than any other team across the top five leagues in Europe. The Gunners are closely followed by AC Milan in second (0.82 – 32 goals in 39 games); Manchester City rank fifth and have the next best defensive record of English clubs (0.93 – 51 goals in 55 games).
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- According to Opta, Arsenal’s clash against Atletico on Tuesday night was their 225th match across the European Cup and the Champions League. No club has played more games across those competitions without winning a piece of silverware. The Spanish giants will inherit the unwanted record (192 games without a trophy) if Artea’s side taste victory in Budapest later this month.
- Across all competitions this season, Arsenal have won more matches (41) than Manchester United will play (40).
- Arsenal banked an additional £15.97m in UEFA prize money after reaching the Champions League final. The Gunners have already banked £125.18m, with a further £5.61m up for grabs in Hungary later this month. Qualification for the Super Cup also earns an additional £3.45m.
- According to Opta, only Bayern Munich and Newcastle United have generated more xG from set-pieces (6.94 and 6.34, respectively) than Arsenal (6.11) in the Champions League this season. Meanwhile, only Chelsea (1.05) and Olympiakos (1.50) have conceded fewer xG from set-pieces than the Gunners (1.77).
- According to Opta, Arsenal have conceded fewer xG per shot in the Champions League this season (0.08) than any other team in the competition. More generally, the Gunners have only conceded six goals from an xG of 11.74.
- According to Squawka, David Raya has equalled the record for the most clean sheets in a single Champions League campaign. Edouard Mendy currently holds the record with nine in 12 games, when Chelsea won the competition for the second time in their history in 2021. If the Spaniard, who has already played 13 times, keeps the ball out of the net in Budapest later this month, then he will overtake the former Blues goalkeeper.
