Could Arsenal Now Win the Champions League Too?

They have not lifted it for 22 years. Now they are champions of England. And in less than two weeks, Arsenal will walk out in a Champions League final carrying the weight of the Premier League trophy and the most extraordinary form of any English club in European football this season. The question that supporters are allowing themselves to ask — cautiously, superstitiously, with the instinctive flinch of people who have been hurt before — is whether the double is actually possible.

The Route to the Final

Arsenal's Champions League campaign has been as impressive as their domestic form. They topped their group without losing a game. They beat a formidable opponent in the round of 16 with a two-legged performance that showcased exactly the defensive organisation and attacking precision that has defined the whole season. The semi-final — two legs of ferocious intensity — was won on the away goal rule in one of the most nerve-shredding nights in the club's modern history. They are not in the final by accident or luck. They have earned every step.

The Final: What Arsenal Will Face

Their opponents in the final are a European giant with Champions League pedigree that Arsenal simply cannot match. Experience in knockout football at the highest level — managing the weight of occasion, the tactical adjustments between legs, the psychological management of players who have been here before — is the one area where Arsenal's relative inexperience could tell. Arteta knows this. His preparation over the next fortnight will be consumed by how to give his players the settled confidence of a team that belongs on this stage, even though most of them have never been here before.

The Gyökeres Factor

Viktor Gyökeres has scored six Champions League goals this season. He is the competition's joint top scorer going into the final. In a knockout game of tight margins and fine details, having the most in-form striker in the competition is not a small advantage. If Arsenal are to win the trophy, his contribution — holding the ball under pressure, making runs that stretch the opponent, converting the one or two chances that a final typically produces — will be central to it.

History Says It Is Possible. History Also Says Prepare for Heartbreak.

Arsenal supporters have learned to hold hope and dread simultaneously. The double is achievable. The squad is good enough, the coach is good enough, and the momentum is genuine. But Champions League finals have broken hearts that seemed too strong to break. The Premier League is won. Everything else is now a gift. Go and enjoy it — and if the trophy comes, it will be one of the greatest nights in the history of English football.