Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has laid down the gauntlet to Gunners fans to do everything they possibly can to help the side in their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Arteta, who is ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best managers in the world right now, is well aware of the threat PSG pose after seeing them dominate the run of play against other Premier League opposition this season.
The Parisiennes knocked out Liverpool on penalties in the round of 16 but would have got the job done sooner had it not been for a worldie of a showing from Reds goalkeeper Alisson.
‘Bring your boots, I’m serious’ – Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal fans to raise the Emirates roof
PSG then took a 5-1 aggregate lead over Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, with a brave fightback attempt seeing Unai Emery’s side fall just short of levelling the tie.
And after hearing the noise PSG’s travelling support made at Anfield and Villa Park, Arteta is keen for Arsenal fans to raise the roof at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
He said before that first-leg clash: “We are making history. It’s a beautiful story right now, but we want much more.
“I told them (the supporters), and I’m not exaggerating here, when I said: ‘Guys, bring your boots, bring your shorts, bring your T-shirts, and let’s play every ball together. We want to do something special’.
“That place has to be something that we haven’t seen before.”
Arsenal saw off PSV and Real Madrid to get to this point, and are hoping they can get past PSG and go on to claim their first ever Champions League or European Cup.
Arsenal’s last continental trophy was the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup, since when Arsenal have gone on to finish runners up in trying to defend that crown, in the 2000 UEFA Cup, in the 2006 Champions League, and most recently in the 2019 Europa League.
Arteta added: “You feel the weight of history because we have a lot of people that have worked in the club for many, many years, and they’ve never been in this position before.
“We’ve never done it, and we need to earn the right to be in that final.
“But we are here to make people happy and to create history. We are very close, and now we have to take the opportunity and make it happen.”
