Thierry Henry has sent a message to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal following the Champions League semi-final victory
Thierry Henry admitted he had doubted Mikel Arteta as he hailed the Arsenal boss for leading the club to a first Champions League final in 20 years.
The Gunners will face Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain on May 30 after Bukayo Saka’s goal sealed a 2-1 aggregate win over Atletico Madrid. Back in control of the title race following Manchester City’s draw at Everton on Monday, Arsenal are within touching distance of a historic double.
That would make up for the near misses under Arteta, including three successive runner-up finishes. Club legend Henry, who was part of the only other Arsenal side to reach a Champions League final in 2006, has previously questioned the direction of travel.
This time last year, he accused the Gunners of not competing with Liverpool in the title race and said it was “normal” to question Arteta and the team. But speaking on CBS’s coverage of the semi-final win, Henry spoke of his pride in the team and Arteta.
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He said: “I always say I believe in what I see, and when I see something that you can be proud of, then you call it.
“I don’t like to call stuff on ‘maybe’. You know what, I am so proud of the team. You have to give this man [Arteta] a lot of credit because he came under a lot of criticism.
“I was in that too, I will be honest, for a very long time. You have to give him his credit. Like I said, I am going to wait now to see if he can go over the line in the final and in the league, but thank you.”
Post-match, Arteta alluded to the Gunners’ previous visit to a Champions League final, which ended in heartbreak following a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in Paris.
He said: “We knew how much it meant to everybody, we put everything on the line, the boys did an incredible job and after 20 years, and the second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”
Arsenal will arrive at the Budapest showpiece as the sole unbeaten team in this season’s competition, having recorded 11 wins and three draws.
Arteta’s side will next take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday, prior to a home match against Burnley and an away clash at Crystal Palace. Three wins will be enough for Arsenal to secure their first Premier League title in 22 years before they head to the Hungarian capital.
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