Arsenal finally ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League after they officially lifted the trophy on Sunday evening. The Gunners ended their campaign by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 in a dead rubber game, having already won the title without being on the pitch after Manchester City dropped points to Bournemouth last week. The Gunners can still add another illustrious trophy to the Premier League, as only PSG stands in their way from winning the Champions League, with the final set to be played on Saturday.
Premier League win more important than Champions League
If you gave many Arsenal fans the chance to choose between the Champions League and the Premier League at the start of the season, many would have gone for the former. However, seeing how the season has progressed, that same question now and the answer would easily be the Premier League.
Arsenal saw themselves slowly become the laughing stock and a ‘banter club’ since their last league win in 2004. Even when they won the FA Cup on multiple occasions, there was still an apparent void that came from not winning the league. It only got worse after Gunners boss Mikel Arteta saw his side finish second for three consecutive seasons, bringing about the ‘bottler’ tag that stood for quite a while. The fact that Manchester City looked like they were about to win it again at some point despite Arsenal spending over 200 days at the top of the league further intensified that point.
In the end, Arsenal did what they had to do, and results also went their way, but none can deny that they were fully deserving champions, whether you agree with their style of play or not.
Put into better context, if Arsenal had lost the Premier League title to Manchester City but gone on to win the Champions League, there would be celebrations, but the ‘bottler’ tag would not go away, and it could do something psychologically to the players, the managers, and even the fans. Dominating domestically ahead of all rivals is a different show of strength, even more valuable than a Champions League win, which would now count as the ultimate cherry on the cake.
Arteta hails incredible Premier League win
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta could not hide his joy after finally seeing his side get it over the line.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I’ve been trying to go through this moment a few times, but I could never expect it to be that big, to be that beautiful, and to see so much joy and pride amongst all the people and our supporters.
“I think sometimes you need to reflect on that, because everything has happened so fast and in such a special way as well. But I really want to enjoy this moment, at least today. Tomorrow we’ll start to prepare for the final in Budapest, and I can’t wait to write a new chapter in the history of our football club.”