Mikel Arteta says Arsenal raised their standards to become Premier League champions, but they still need to “go to the next level” to win the UEFA Champions League.
The Gunners will lift the trophy at Selhurst Park this Sunday after Manchester City’s draw with Bournemouth on Tuesday made it mathematically impossible for them to be caught at the top of the table.
Arsenal have the opportunity to win an historic double when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest next Saturday, with kickoff slated for 5pm BST.
Mikel Arteta: Arsenal need to reach next level to win Champions League
PSG are considered the strongest football side in Europe, but Arteta says they are “very confident” they are good enough to dethrone the reigning champions.
“We have raised different standards now,” he told actor Tom Hiddleston in an interview for Sky Sports.
“This is where we are right now, and now we have to go to the next level, and the next level is going to happen in six days in Budapest, to go and win the Champions League, and we know that.
“Our only focus now is to achieve that goal. The energy has been incredible around the place with the boys, with everybody, because we have a lot of families, a lot of people who know each other, a lot of people connected in and around the club.
“And you see the joy, but you see as well the ambition. We’ve done that, but now we want this one.
“And with the journey that we had in the Champions League this season, I think we need to be very confident that we have the ability to go and win it.”
Arteta described the “incredible” feeling of finally winning Premier League title, Arsenal’s first in 22 years.
“I’ve been dreaming about this moment for a long time, but when it actually happens, it’s different to anything that I imagined.
“I could never expect such a joy and togetherness, and something that happens organically in the manner that it happened straight after we won it. It was magical to witness that.”
