Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against Sporting CP on 15 April 2026 was enough to seal a 1-0 aggregate victory and confirm the club’s place in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals — a result that etched a new chapter into the North London club’s history books.
For the first time across 140 years of existence, Arsenal have reached the final four of European football’s premier club competition in consecutive seasons. Manager Mikel Arteta was keen to place that achievement in its proper context when speaking to the media after the match.
“It’s a massive moment. It’s the first time in our history, in 140 years, that we are on back-to-back semi-finals, so to be part of those four teams is something very special. You have to earn it. You have to go through a lot of work. Gratitude to the players,” Arteta said.
The Spaniard also pointed to a period of internal reflection within the squad following a Premier League defeat to Bournemouth as a turning point in the team’s mentality. “We are making steps that haven’t been done in this club for 140 years, the players deserve credit for what they’re doing. What I love is the ownership the players took after the defeat here against Bournemouth. They sat together, they analysed it, they said things face-to-face. They act on it. At the end you have to do it on the pitch. We can talk in the dressing room. We can talk beautiful things, but we need to put those words into action, and we certainly done that tonight.”
This latest progression to the semi-finals is only the fourth occasion in Arsenal’s history that the club has reached this stage of the Champions League. Notably, two of those four appearances have now come under Arteta’s management within the last 12 months — a benchmark that equals the record previously set by Arsène Wenger.
Before the current era, Arsenal had reached the Champions League semi-finals on just two occasions. In the 2005/06 campaign, the Gunners went one step further, reaching the final before losing to Barcelona. In 2008/09, they were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Manchester United. Both runs came under Wenger, who managed the club from 1996 to 2018.
Arsenal’s route to this season’s semi-finals was built on an exceptional foundation. The club entered the knockout rounds having become the first team in Champions League history to finish the league phase with a perfect record — accumulating 24 points from eight matches, winning every game.
Attention now turns to a semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid, with Arsenal seeking to go further than last season’s campaign, which ended at this stage. A place in the Champions League final would represent the club’s second appearance at that stage of the competition and their first since 2006. Arsenal have never won the Champions League title.
