Mikel Arteta revealed he was inspired by a phone call with Pep Guardiola ahead of Arsenal’s 5-1 Champions League aggregate win over Real Madrid.
The Gunners dumped holders Real Madrid out of the Champions League as a stunning 2-1 win at the Bernabeu sealed a huge victory to set up a semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Arteta called the victory one of the “greatest nights of his career” and spoke how proud he was of his team whilst also revealing he spoke with Guardiola – his former mentor at Man City – for inspiration ahead of the trip to Madrid.
He said: “I called him this morning. Because if I am here, it is thanks to him to a great extent. He has been a big inspiration to me. I lived four amazing years and I will always be grateful to him. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.”
The buzzword ahead of Wednesday’s second leg was ‘remontada’ – Spanish for comeback – with Jude Bellingham insisting Real Madrid were confident they could overturn Arsenal’s 3-0 lead.
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring the opening
However, it was a comfortable night for Arsenal, who opened the scoring through Bukayo Saka and added a second through Gabriel Martinelli three minutes into stoppage time.
Arteta told TNT Sports: “It’s one of the best nights of my career. A really special one. We played against a team that have been an inspiration for us in this competition. To win the tie in this manner, we have to be very proud of ourselves.
“It was my first time on that touchline and quickly you realise anything can happen in this stadium. You have to be here to realise that. I got that feeling straightaway. If something goes wrong, they score a goal then it would be game-on. But fortunately things went for us but overall we did what we had to do.
“I have that feeling. It is just the third time in our history we have got this far so we need to build on that. We are hungry. We are a young team that are determined. All these experiences, including myself, will help us to try and achieve something big.
“We had full belief we could beat this team and dominate them but then you have to do it and the players did it.”
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Jay Bothroyd breaks down Bukayo Saka’s calm finish as he dinks it over Thibaut Courtois to put Arsenal 4-1 ahead on aggregate
Ancelotti: I could be done at Real Madrid tomorrow
Carlo Ancelotti admits his future at Real Madrid is in doubt, claiming his time could be up as early as “tomorrow” but will always be grateful to the club.
Madrid looked a shadow of the team that won the competition in two of the last three seasons.
Ancelotti’s team are also four points behind Barcelona in LaLiga with seven games remaining.
Ancelotti’s contract at the Bernabeu runs until 2026.
When asked about his long-term future as Real Madrid boss, Ancelotti said: “It could be this year, next year when my contract runs out…There’s no problem about it. But when I am done here, I will be grateful to this club. It could be tomorrow, in one year, or in 10 years, but I will be grateful to this club. And that’s it. Full stop.”
