Arsenal Crowned Premier League Champions, Eyes Champions League Glory
Arsenal finally had the Premier League trophy in their hands, the wait and the weight of three straight near-misses spilling out in a roar at Selhurst Park. A 2-1 win over Crystal Palace sealed it, ending years of frustration and turning a season of relentless pursuit into a title procession at the last.
On the pitch, players embraced, families poured out from the sidelines, and the away end shook under the noise. Mikel Arteta allowed himself to join in, to feel it, to live in the moment he had been chasing since the day he took the job.
But only for a moment.
Because for Arteta, this was not the destination. It was the launchpad.
Champions at last, but not finished
This title means everything to this Arsenal side. Three seasons in a row they had finished as runners-up, three seasons in which they had pushed, learned, and ultimately fallen away in the final stretch. The scars of those collapses were visible enough; the manager has spoken often about the pain of “falling short at the end”.
Now they stand as champions of England. Arteta knows that changes the air around the club. It changes the way the players walk into a stadium, the way opponents look at the shirt.
“I said to the boys that this shirt now represents something else,” he told reporters. “We are the champions, and that brings a lot of confidence and a different kind of presence and energy to it. But as well, another kind of responsibility.”
That responsibility arrives almost immediately. There is no long parade into the summer, no extended lap of honour. On Saturday, Arsenal face PSG in Budapest in the Champions League final – the one trophy the club has never claimed, the one stage that has always eluded them.
Arteta is not about to let the celebrations dull the edge that brought them here.
“We need that energy to flow and going against that, I think it will be a big mistake,” he said. The message to his players is clear: enjoy it, then weaponise it.
From nearly men to a team with an aura
Arteta’s journey to this point has been anything but smooth. He lifted the FA Cup in his first season in 2020, a promising start that hinted at a swift rise. Instead, progress came in surges and setbacks: rebuilds, resets, and those agonising title run-ins that fell apart just when the finish line came into view.
He has leaned heavily on psychology and detail, even using visualisation techniques to picture himself with the Premier League trophy before it became reality. Now, standing on the pitch with that same trophy in his hands, he feels vindicated.
“I'm the same one but I'm happier and relieved, I would say,” he admitted. “Obviously throughout this journey we have made some massive steps. We have accomplished a lot of things that, in my opinion, have a lot of value. But at the end of the day, we are here to win major trophies. That was the ultimate goal.”
The near-misses have shaped this group. Three times, in his words, “in three locations we fell short at the end,” and those collapses hurt. They also hardened. They forced the club to “find new ways to show what we are made of,” as he put it, and the manner of this title – the resilience, the refusal to crack this time – has made it all the sweeter for him.
Now he believes that champion status gives his side something they have never had before on this stage: an aura.
He calls it a “different kind of presence and energy”. A feeling that the badge carries more weight, that the opponents know they are facing the best team in England. In a Champions League final, where so much rests on fine margins and belief, that edge might matter as much as any tactical tweak.
Budapest and the final frontier
For all the glory of this domestic triumph, there is no doubt about what comes next. The Champions League has always been Arsenal’s missing piece. This club has seen great sides, Invincibles, and serial FA Cup winners, but it has never seen its captain lift Europe’s biggest prize.
Arteta understands exactly what is at stake. This is not just about adding another trophy to the cabinet; it is about altering the club’s place in the game.
“We talked about already what we have to do in Budapest, how we're going to use all the incredible energy that we're all carrying towards that final,” he said. Preparation starts immediately. No easing off, no emotional hangover.
“And we can't wait to write a new chapter in the history of our club and lift the Champions League,” he added, the ambition laid out without a hint of modesty.
This is the chance to turn a title-winning team into a legendary one. A domestic and continental double would not just crown a season; it would define an era and immortalise this squad in Arsenal’s history.
Arteta knows that. His players know that. The supporters certainly do.
The Premier League trophy has finally come home to Arsenal. The question now is whether, under the lights in Budapest, this team can take the final step and claim the one prize that has always lived just beyond their reach.
