LONDON: Arsenal, at last, have made it back to the final of the UEFA Champions League after beating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the second leg of their semi-final for a 2-1 aggregate success. England winger Bukayo Saka struck the all-important goal, one minutes before halftime. The Gunners will face holders Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest.

This has been the best week of Arsenal’s outstanding season. On Monday they were confirmed back in command of the Premier League after Manchester City were held 3-3 by Everton and 24 hours later they were within 90 minutes of club history.

The tie had none of the elan or excitement displayed by Bayern and Paris Saint-Germain but that was never expected. Arsenal’s task against Diego Simeone’s team was to work hard, maintain their tactical and mental discipline and grab whatever of the few chances would come their way.

On May 30 in the Puskas Arena in Budapest Mikel Arteta’s team will attempt to wipe away memories of the painful defeat by Barcelona at the same stage in 2006. That night saw the Gunners take the lead only to be undermined by an 18th-minute red card for Jens Lehmann.

Manager Arteta was bold in his team selection with five changes from the 1-1 draw in Madrid last week. Notable was the use of Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield in place of Martin Zubimendi. Lewis-Skelly has been a bit-part player this season but Arteta tested him in midfield in Saturday’s win against Fulham and was vindicated both then and on Tuesday.

Arteta said: “An incredible night. We made history again together and I cannot be more proud for everyone. The way that we were welcomed outside the stadium by the fans was special and unique. The atmosphere, our support has created the energy, the way they managed every ball with us, they made it special and unique, I never felt that in this stadium before.”

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