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Arsenal's dream of winning the Champions League for the very first time remains alive. So far, Mikel Arteta's team have dumped Bayer Leverkusen and Sporting CP out during the knockout stages, with Atlético Madrid now the only side between them and a place at the Puskás Aréna on 30 May.
Under Arteta, they have always made progress year on year in this competition, dumped out by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals in their first year back, before being ousted by Paris Saint-Germain during last season's semis. Overall, the Gunners are preparing for a 12th semi-final in UEFA competition, seeking to avoid a repeat of the heartbreak they suffered in Paris 12 months ago.
List of Arsenal's UEFA competition semi-finals
- 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 3-1 aggregate victory vs Ajax. Beat Anderlecht in the final.
- 1980 Cup Winners' Cup: 2-1 aggregate victory vs Juventus. Lost to Valencia in the final.
- 1994 Cup Winners' Cup: 2-1 aggregate victory vs PSG. Beat Parma in the final.
- 1995 Cup Winners' Cup: Penalty shootout victory vs Sampdoria. Lost to Zaragoza in the final.
- 2000 UEFA Cup: 3-1 aggregate victory vs Lens. Lost to Galatasaray in the final.
- 2006 Champions League: 1-0 aggregate victory vs Villarreal. Lost to Barcelona in the final.
- 2009 Champions League: 4-1 aggregate defeat vs Manchester United.
- 2018 Europa League: 2-1 aggregate defeat vs Atlético Madrid.
- 2019 Europa League: 7-3 aggregate victory vs Valencia. Lost to Chelsea in the final.
- 2021 Europa League: 2-1 aggregate defeat vs Villarreal.
- 2025 Champions League: 3-1 aggregate defeat vs Paris Saint-Germain.
Amazingly, Arsenal won each of their first six European semi-finals, albeit they have not enjoyed quite so much success more recently. The Gunners have lost four of their last five ties at this stage of UEFA competition, battering Valencia in 2019, but exiting at the hands of Manchester Unied, Atlético Madrid themselves, Villarreal and then PSG a year ago.
In terms of when it comes to facing Spanish clubs, it is two wins and two defeats, overcoming Villarreal 1-0 on aggregate en route to the club's sole Champions League Final two decades ago. Fair to say, all Arsenal fans would settle for a repeat of that scoreline.
Under Mikel Arteta, they are seeking to reach a first-ever European final. The behind-closed-doors exit against Villarreal was painful and miserable in equal measure, with narrative dialled up to 11, given that the recently sacked Unai Emery was the man in charge of the Yellow Submarine back then. Last season, after all the excitement brought about by the victory over Real Madrid, Ousmane Dembélé's fourth minute goal at the Emirates really burst the bubble, with the team and supporters alike never really recovering from that moment.
So, will this time be different? Well, for starters, unlike last season, the second leg is in North London, which has to be an advantage. Arsenal will be rewarded for their perfect league phase campaign. Also, Atleti right now are nowhere near as good as PSG were 12 months ago, with the Ligue 1 champions swatting aside pretty much everyone en route to glory.
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