Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he decided to make a barbecue rather than watch the match that clinched his team the Premier League title.
Arteta was due to watch the Bournemouth-Manchester City game with Arsenal’s players and coaching staff at the club’s London Colney training base on Tuesday evening, but he left before kick-off because “I couldn’t bring the energy that I wanted”.
Instead, he went home and started to grill in his yard, only “hearing some noises in the background” as second-placed City could only draw 1-1 to leave Arsenal as English champion for the first time since 2004.
Thousands of Arsenal fans celebrated outside their home stadium in north London. (Getty Images: Leon Neal)
“My oldest son opened the garden door,” Arteta said, describing the moment he discovered Arsenal had won the title. “He started to run towards me, he started to cry, he gave me a hug and said, ‘We are champions, daddy.’
“And then my other two boys and my wife came over and it was beautiful, just to see that joy on them as well … it was magical.”
Thousands of supporters — and some of the team’s players — celebrated outside Arsenal Stadium deep into the night, and Arteta was struck by how much it meant to a fan base that had lived through runner-up finishes in the league in each of the past three seasons.
Arteta described it as an “emotional explosion”.
Arsenal still has one game remaining, while West Ham and Tottenham remain in a fight to avoid relegation in the final week of action. (Getty Images: Leon Neal)
“Everybody’s been just keeping emotions and living those emotions, but not being able to really express them,” he said on Thursday. “So when we opened that bottle, I think everybody had so much release, and it’s been incredible to witness.”
Arteta said he had questioned himself about whether he was “good enough to lead this team, this club, these players to win a major trophy”.
“Until you do it, you cannot validate yourself,” Arteta said.
“What I’m the most proud [of],” he added, “is how we’ve won it. Because we showed very important values, not only in sport but in life as well, which is perseverance, to be resilient, to be composed in moments when people are doubting. To be vulnerable.”
Arsenal’s players will lift the trophy after the game at Crystal Palace on Sunday in the Premier League’s final round.
The Gunners will then play the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on May 30. A parade is set for the next day in north London — and it could be a double celebration.
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