Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal win, Rice and Saka injury updates and the Bernabeu

Mikel Arteta seemed somewhat unsurprised by what his team produced, convinced that they had prepared for this in the right way and that the crowd’s energy was key to their victory, perhaps the last piece of the puzzle. He was keen to make reference to the old cliche of it only being 'half-time', but the joy was evident in his voice.

Two goals from Declan Rice directly from free-kicks was the theme of the presser as Arteta made reference to the last goal they had scored in such a situation, nearly four years ago. The job is half-done and what an occasion awaits in the Spanish capital.

Here is every word from the press conference as Arteta faced the media:

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How proud were you of the team tonight?

I mean we had a complete and big performance collectively and you need that in terms of organisation, in terms of what we had to do to dominate the game and to create Madrid problems.

And then this night is about all the two factors, one is the atmosphere that we created 15 minutes before kick-off, already something I haven't seen before, so playing with that energy, with that commitment, with your crowd, makes a huge difference.

And then magic moments, individual moments that decide all matches and the first two goals of Declan, I think it sums up the night.

Was Declan always determined to take those free kicks and tell us about his quality? Because I think the first that he scored from direct free kicks...

He's been very determined because we have talked in the last few months, we haven't scored a direct free kick since September 2021; Burnley away, Martin Odegaard. So it's been a long time, so to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude of that quality from the same player, a player that has never scored a free kick before in his career, I mean, what are the odds?

But he's done it tonight and I'm a big believer, I think the crowd played something with the energy that they put in and it helped us massively to win the game.

Everything you asked for in the build-up to this match, from the fans, from the players, from yourself, I don't know if you have wild dreams, but in your wildest dreams, did you ever think that this could happen?

I did, and I was very convinced because I could sense in the preparation that we were really at it, that we had that belief and that trust that we could create Madrid a lot of problems. But then it was the theme of the game, make it happen. Then you have to make it happen, but you have that mindset and that belief, things can happen. And we delivered today, it's just half-time, but we are very happy.

Are Bukayo and Dec both okay, what were the issues?

Yeah, I think Dec had an issue with the foot, I don't know if it was a tackle or what was it, and Bukayo after he got tackled on the foul I think he had a knock and he had to go.

Serious?

He doesn't look serious, no.

Just a word on Myles-Lewis-skelly, another step on his journey, another excellent performance and assist and definitely up to the occasion tonight.

I mean, collectively when you play the way we played and have the performance that we had, you need individuals at the highest level. And I think they all took the game to a different level, the individual performance, to the standards that are required to beat this incredible team. So, very happy, now it's about consistency.

Mikel, there's so much talk about you signing a striker, but have you already got him in Mikel Merino?

Well, it's been a season that we have to adapt. We went through a lot of things, we lost probably our best defender as well for four months. And Jakub comes in and he delivers the performances that he's delivering.

It's not a coincidence; the way they train, the way they apply themselves and the way they help each other, I think produces those moments. And with Mikel it's again his commitment, his desire to learn the position, to constantly be thinking and what he can offer to the team. And the team adapting to his qualities to try to deliver the best outcome.

There's always a lot of talk about Madrid's aura and it's going to come up before the second leg. Did you work on that with the psychology of the team beforehand, like breaking them down, just looking at them as a mortal team?

Yeah, especially that it was about us. My feeling was that the team was super convinced and we had the trust that we could do it. Because we've done it for now big periods against the best opposition that you can face in football for two years. And if you can do that, you can do it on the day. And especially with our crowd. At that level, I think it elevates the level of the team. And we have managed to do that.

It was important to get this big win in Europe as well. Bayern was the first clash against some of these major clubs. Was this a bit of a threshold?

Yeah, you have to continue to make steps and tonight we have one in the right direction for sure. And now we have time. And now we have to go to the Bernabeu. We're going to have to elevate the level again to be the team that we want to be there and to prepare the game to win it.

Is it possible to put some perspective on this kind of night, in the sense that people are talking about it being maybe the best performance at the Emirates in the history of this stadium. When you think about when you came into a team that wasn't always in Europe and had to spend some time in the Europa League, get back into the Champions League step by step, can you feel that perspective of what a result of this significance does and how people feel about how you feel about your team and what they can do?

Yeah, I do because I know how much work and how many decisions a lot of people have made in this football club to live the night that we had tonight. I told them thank you so much for making us enjoy the journey to come here. And thank you for me feeling so convinced that tonight we're going to do it and we're going to make it happen. And it was a genuine feeling because I think we are prepared to do that, and now we have to go to the Bernabeu and do it. And that will be another step.

After drawing against Everton, how did you get the players up against their psyche? Of course, when you look around, it's the stars from top to bottom. How did you get them so ready?

Well, a completely different game, two different walls of football and demands from the opposition. And you could sense, I mean, they've been waiting for this game. The moment that we got the draw, there isn't a team or a club that is going to motivate you for the right reasons because they changed the history of the competition and they are the best team by far in the competition. And our challenge and opportunity was to face them and try to beat them.

It's obviously just the first leg, but do you feel you've accomplished something here by putting three past Real Madrid?

We're going to enjoy the win because we feel we deserve to do that. But we know we just half time and we're going to have to be even better in Madrid to go through.

Mikel, you've said the words half-time a lot already and I'm sure you'll be saying it a lot over the next eight days. Does it in any way help that it's Real Madrid and it's at the Bernabeu and the players know what happens there? Is that going to help them keep focused and make sure they don't think the tie is won?

Yeah, well, they were talking about it immediately. You know, great, enjoy it and now let's prepare Saturday very well and then we'll have the time to prepare the next challenge in Madrid. But they are all very excited.

I know you keep saying it's only half-time, but what sort of message does that win send to the rest of Europe? And do you think Arsenal should now be considered as the favourites to win this year?

No, because we have a tie that we are just, again, in the middle of it, at half-time, however you want to call it, and there is still so much to do yet.