Mikel Arteta makes Champions League final admission after ending title wait

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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal’s “ambition is bigger” to win the Champions League as he eyes a historic double. Arsenal boss Arteta dismissed any suggestion there is less pressure on his players now after they won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

Instead, Arteta says they are determined to win another trophy and complete a historic season because Arsenal have never won the European Cup before.

Arteta said: “The ambition is bigger. We have one, and now we want the second one. That's all we've been talking about. There has to be a platform to reach bigger destinations and to aim for more.

“And the team is capable, because we've shown it in the last two seasons, in this competition. What we've done this season in the competition, and I want the players to be so confident that we're going to win.

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“I think it's the opportunity to own the moment, because, as you said, it's the second time in our history that we are here, and we have the opportunity tomorrow to write a new chapter in the history of this football club.

“And in order to do that, we have to play tomorrow. With such a clarity, a lot of courage, and a relentless desire to win. We have those three aspects, and I'm sure we're going to be close to winning.

“The players want more, I think. Going through those moments brings you a different kind of desire, because you lift it, you know exactly how it feels, and you want to reproduce that feeling as many times as possible. And tomorrow we have the opportunity to do that.

“It would mean something new for all of us, and we know how tough it is in a club like Arsenal to write a new history. But that's the aim, and that's why we are all so excited and we have such a desire to make it happen.”

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Arteta accepts that Paris Saint Germain will start as favourites - but is super confident that his players can upset the odds.

Arteta added: “Well, they are defending the trophy, so they were the last ones that had the right to lift that trophy, and they are actually the champions, and we are here to take that away from them.

“But I feel it, it's great, we've done it, we earned it, we've fought for so long in the Premier League to achieve that after 22 years, and now we have another opportunity to do it.

“And the journey that we have in the competition shows that we are capable of doing that tomorrow, and the boys are, you know, with the level of desire at the maximum, for sure.”

The ultimate showdown is here. Premeir League champions Arsenal are on the march in the Champions League final this weekend, ready to fight for Europe's biggest prize.

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