On Tuesday night at the Emirates, Bukayo Saka slotted home from four yards in the 44th minute, setting off something that has been building in North London for three years. Arsenal beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. The rain poured, the pyrotechnics went off, and somewhere in the back of every Arsenal fan’s mind, the same thought formed:
Could this actually be the year?
What Arsenal Are Chasing
Arsenal are now just four wins away from a domestic and European double—four wins away from a first Premier League title in 22 years and a first-ever Champions League triumph. These four wins could make 2025–26 the most famous and storied season in the long history of this iconic club. 
The last time Arsenal won the Premier League was in 2004, the “Invincibles” season under Arsene Wenger. They have never won the Champions League. Not once. Fans of a certain age are still haunted by their team’s loss in the 2006 final to Barcelona. Twenty years later, Arsenal return to a Champions League final with unfinished business and a squad that looks genuinely built for it.
The Premier League Situation
Arsenal sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League with three fixtures remaining, though Manchester City have one game in hand. The title is now in Arsenal’s hands; if they win all three remaining matches, they will be crowned champions regardless of City’s results.
City slipped up dramatically on Monday, drawing 3-3 at Everton after being 3-1 down with eight minutes left before Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku rescued a point. That dropped point handed Arsenal back control of the race they had briefly surrendered.
Arsenal’s three remaining league fixtures are West Ham United away, Burnley at home, and Crystal Palace away. Win all three, and the 22-year wait ends.
However, this is Arsenal, and the history is complicated. The Gunners endured an almost unthinkable slump earlier in the season, losing four of six games—a run that gave City the keys to the title fight and sparked painful memories of previous collapses. What separated this squad from the Arsenal of recent memory was the response. After their 2-1 defeat at the Etihad, Declan Rice was caught on camera at full-time saying, “It’s not done,” and so it proved.
The Champions League Final
Arsenal will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest on May 30. PSG, who beat Arsenal in the semi-finals last year, lead Bayern 5-4 ahead of the second leg in Munich on Wednesday.
Either opponent presents a serious test. PSG hold a grudge, while Bayern have the experience. But an Arsenal squad that has beaten Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP, and Atletico Madrid to reach Budapest has already shown it can handle pressure—and it has done so largely without individual heroics, winning through its system, depth, and collective belief.
Viktor Gyökeres has found his groove at the right time, running channels and causing constant problems for defenders. Saka remains the homegrown symbol of everything Arteta has built. Arteta himself recently revealed he had visualised Arsenal conquering the Champions League even during the difficult early days of his reign. He was not speaking about a distant dream; he was describing a plan.
What History Says
Doing the double—winning the Premier League and Champions League in the same season—is one of football’s rarest achievements. Only a handful of clubs have managed it. Even Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles might have to bow to the current generation if Arsenal finish the job.
The goal difference is razor-thin. Arsenal have scored 67 goals and conceded 26, giving them a goal difference of +41. The city’s is +37. If both clubs finish level on points, goal difference, and goals scored, City would claim the title on their head-to-head record, having taken four points from Arsenal this season. It would be the closest Premier League title race ever recorded.
There is no margin for error. One slip in the league and City are back in the game. One bad night in Budapest and the European dream is over.
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The Verdict
Arsenal are the best team in England right now. They are in a Champions League final, the fixtures are favourable, and the momentum is real. The squad is deep enough, and the belief is there in a way it demonstrably was not in previous seasons.
The four wins that stand between Arsenal and immortality will not come easily. Arteta and his players are in dreamland and just fingertips away from history. Whether they will close their fingers around it over the next three Premier League weekends and one night in Budapest is the question English football will spend the next three weeks trying to answer.
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