Viktor Gyokeres was at the centre of Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League semi-final success
Football is a stunning sport. Less than a month ago, Arsenal were beaten by Bournemouth, the sky was raining molten rock, and supporters were in full meltdown mode.
Fast forward 24 days, and Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with three games to play, and Bukayo Saka has sent them into a UEFA Champions League final, where they could end the season with their most historic tally of major trophies ever. It would have been a great injustice for The Gunners not to make this final.
The work was done, and they should have earned more from it in Madrid than they received. Both the Ben White and Eberechi Eze penalty calls were avenged, and despite members of the Spanish media plying Mikel Arteta with questions on why he wasn’t discussing the big calls on Tuesday night, he will not care one jot.
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Because Arsenal are in their first UEFA Champions League final in 20 years, they will be in Budapest, and they will have a chance to win a trophy they have never won before. Bayern Munich or PSG will likely both go into the game as favourites.
Free-scoring, aesthetically pleasing and fresher than Arsenal, but this in itself is quite the accomplishment. Mikel Arteta took over this club in complete freefall.
He took over a squad that was broken, full of players who had no business being at a monster that is The Arsenal Football Club. And through ruthless squad building, faith in young players from the academy, one of whom started in midfield for only the second time in his senior career in a Champions League semi-final, and coaching and philosophy that means David Raya kept yet another clean sheet in this competition and ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ has again been reborn in this squad.
It’s not always been pretty, it’s not always been fun, and sometimes it’s not even been believable, but it’s been a journey. Arteta perhaps said it best when he was asked about the journey.
“It’s very tough and difficult, but again, we’re only so aligned on the desire and ambition that we have for the club, and then you have to be a bit lucky; things have to go your way,” he said. “We put so much work, passion and belief into what we do, and today we got awarded to have an incredible day in Budapest in a few weeks.”
It’s emotional, it really is. There has been such struggle, so many arguments, so much doubt, and when you see in front of you, the players and the coach that you have yearned to reach the very highest level, achieve that, it makes the heartache, frustration and turmoil all worth it.
The ground was shaking at full-time. Freed From Desire came over the speakers, and the fans in unison were bouncing with their teammates.
Let’s be honest, this team continues to be written off, laughed at, turned into memes, and it feels almost like the world does not want this club to succeed. The narratives, the noise, and the punditry can get firmly in the bin now, because whether or not this side wins the Champions League is material to what just reaching the final says about Arsenal.
Now, I need to take a moment. A humbling moment.
I have not been the biggest praising voice of Viktor Gyokeres this season. I know why, and I think my criticisms, which were perhaps harsh at times, have come from a very genuine place.
The striker signing in the summer carried a level of weight that no other signing in recent memory has, even Declan Rice. The player Arsenal signed this summer had to be the answer, the player who would take this team to the next level.
And for a long time, I have worried that he was not only not being that player, but was causing me concern. But something has changed since the turn of the year: 17 of his 24 goals and assists came in 2026.
What’s the point in having a mind if you are not willing to change it? What Viktor Gyokeres has done in these last three games sees Arsenal both in a Champions League final and big favourites to win the Premier League with three games left. What more can I ask for?
I’m team Viktor, and I’m full of humble pie. But I’m equally full of excitement for what is to come, what can be achieved and what this side can win.
Before the game, the ‘meet the bus’ event championed by the Red Action fan group was a massive success. The supporters have given everything they can now; the job falls to this team to get what’s needed over the line.
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