Mikel Arteta's momentum tour pulls into the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon with Arsenal now just four wins away from sealing arguably the club's greatest ever season. The Budapest-bound Gunners beat Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. It capped a momentous 24 hours for the north Londoners, who were handed the initiative in the Premier League title race on Monday when Manchester City dropped points at Everton.
Arteta Calls for Calm Ahead of West Ham Clash
Calling for calm ahead of Sunday's must-win London derby against West Ham, Arteta said: "Everybody can feel a shift in energy, in belief. Let's use it in the right way, understanding the margins and the difficulty of what we are trying to achieve. It's huge but we have the ability and the conviction to do that for sure."
Celebrating reaching the Champions League final, which will be held at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on Saturday, May 30, the Arsenal boss added: "It's very tough and difficult but again we've all been so aligned in the desire and ambition that we have for the club. Then you have to be sometimes lucky, things have to go your way. We put so much work, passion and belief into what we do and today we got rewarded with an incredible day in Budapest in a few weeks."
"The high is not too high, the low is not too low – my job is to be quite stable. I really will enjoy it, everyone is enjoying this moment now. Then we have to start to prepare for Sunday. We have an incredible game now to play against West Ham, a really tough one."
Declan Rice Shines Against Former Club
Bukayo Saka stole the headlines after scoring the only goal at the Emirates on Tuesday as a dominant Arsenal side beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate. But the man-of-the-match award went to Declan Rice, who put in an all-action display in the heart of midfield. The former West Ham skipper is now preparing for an emotional reunion with his old club. And although the Hammers are desperately fighting relegation, Rice, who was released by Chelsea at the age of 14, has made it clear that his focus is on helping Arsenal clinch the title.
"That club gave me everything, without West Ham there's no me. I honestly believe that," Rice told Prime Video. "They gave me a chance when Chelsea didn't. A lot of people there really pushed me on, so it's not nice to see the position they're in. But it's football and I've got a job to do on Sunday. We're trying to win a Premier League title, we want to win every game and I'm sure they will want to as well, so let the best team win."
