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Arteta admits Guardiola helped him a lot in his career. |
Mikel Arteta had the most memorable night of his career as Arsenal beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu, winning 5-1 on aggregate to advance to the Champions League semi-finals. Revealing after the match, the Spanish coach called his old coach Pep Guardiola in the morning for inspiration.
"I called him this morning. Because if I'm here, it's largely thanks to him," Arteta said emotionally. "I had four great years with Pep and I'm forever grateful to him. Without him, I probably wouldn't be standing here today."
Real were expected to produce a classic comeback after a 0-3 defeat in the first leg, but Arsenal quickly extinguished the home team's hopes with goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Despite Jude Bellingham's confident declaration of his ability to turn the game around, Real could not produce a miracle.
After the match, Arteta proudly said: "I think this is one of the best nights of my coaching career. Not only because this is the third time in Arsenal's history that we have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, but also because of the way we did it, with so many injuries, pressure and a fierce stadium like the Bernabeu."
He also emphasized the maturity of his players: "We showed character, concentration and the ability to control a chaotic match like here. That speaks to the character of this team."
Arteta insists Arsenal don't want to stop: "We are still very young, very hungry, and are improving every game. All this experience, for both me and the players, will be a stepping stone towards something bigger."
Arsenal will face PSG in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League.
Source: https://znews.vn/arteta-goi-cho-guardiola-truoc-tran-dai-thang-real-madrid-post1546536.html
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