By the time the Arsenal players eventually got back to their dressing room, unable to stop embracing each other and thumping the air in delight, Mikel Arteta barely said a thing. He knew he didn’t need to, but he also knew he probably wouldn’t have been able to get a word in if he tried. There was too much joy, too many people jumping around. It was all about the “feeling”, as Arteta put it.
The same was true of the 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid itself. Arsenal were obviously tactically drilled and primed, but they were also well aware that the key to this match was a willingness to fight. The feeling.
