Arsenal see off Atlético Madrid and feel gnawing fear of failure start to fall away

The newly found belief Mikel Arteta’s side have shown has now carried them into the Champions League final

There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Arsenal, having failed to capitalise on so many opportunities over the past few years, have suddenly and not entirely expectedly seized their chance. A week ago, their course seemed uncertain, the waters choppy; quite abruptly, the skies have cleared and, the wind in their sails, Arsenal are sailing on towards potential glory.

Atlético tested them and they came through it to reach their first Champions League final in 20 years. Whether it’s Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern they will meet in Budapest, that challenge will be very different to this one but the important thing is they are there. It was perhaps inevitable that if they were going to go through it would be 1-0, not just for old times’ sake but because this was an old-fashioned kind of semi‑final, won not through the sort of attacking pyrotechnics of the first leg of PSG v Bayern, but through discipline and resolve.

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