Arsenal had waited so long for this moment that, naturally enough, they didn’t want it to end. It was 90 minutes after a trophy lift 22 years in the making that the players eventually began to leave the Selhurst Park and Mikel Arteta conducted his proscribed post-game press conference.
This was his first as a champion.
It had been quite the takeover of Crystal Palace’s stadium. Chairman Steve Parish had even jokingly asked the Arsenal fans to “give us five minutes” for their own presentations. Fairly enough, Palace took about 25, just building up the anticipation.
So, when Martin Odegaard finally got to lift the trophy, players and staff made sure to maximise every moment. Kai Havertz even had to sit down for a few minutes. Chants of “set piece again, ole ole” became “champions again, ole ole”.
When the players eventually started to stream off, they were taken aside for a quick photo with their medal. Each had their own little stance, although many went with the Rafael Nadal bite. David Raya sat down and pointed to his wrist, eager to get celebrations going.
Maybe that’s the influence of the assertive Jens Lehmann, who’d just been having a chat with him and Kepa Arrizabalaga.
All were of course wearing the home shirt with ‘champions 26’ on the back, including the manager. The trophy was eventually taken off Odegaard to give to Arteta for one other lift with the fans, before he spoke to media.
One element of the celebrations already stood out for him. He’d been speaking on Thursday about how he hadn’t yet touched the trophy, and now that he had it was like a deeper realisation of all this had started to sink in.
“It is different. It was magical the other night, and, what we’ve done this afternoon here, I would say even better. Because all the staff are there, everybody is touching it, you see the joy of the players.”
That’s what it means. That’s what it represents, it is the tangible reality of your glory. This is what you are going for.
This is what all the pain is for.
And that was another important element of the day where the match itself barely mattered. Arsenal and their fans could finally enjoy winning the league without worrying about having to actually do it.
Arteta again admitted a “relief”.
“Obviously, throughout this journey, we have made some massive steps. We have accomplished a lot of things that, in my opinion, have a lot of value. But at the end of the day, we are here to win major trophies.
“That was the ultimate goal. We came very close, and in three occasions we fell short at the end, and that was very painful. But I think that’s what has driven all of us to find new ways to show what we are made of.
“That’s why I said that the manner that we’ve done it, it makes it even better.”
And make the very image of the club better again. Arteta told his players that the shirt “now represents something else”.
“We are the champions, and that brings a lot of confidence and a different kind of presence and energy to it.”
As regards that actual game, Arsenal did beat Palace 2-1 in an entertaining affair. Perhaps the main significance is that it brings them to 85 points, which is a healthy return in Premier League history but feels all the better given how competitive this season has been.
The actual trophy ended up being brought out by owner Stan Kroenke and his son Josh. The latter had long dreamed of sharing this moment with his father, something he’d always wanted.
There were still some politics and hard-nosed business beneath all of this.
In Arteta’s press conference, he’d made a point of thanking previous members of the hierarchy who were willing to give him his break.
“It’s been a lot. They gave me the opportunity to manage this football club when I had no experience at all. So first of all, I have some words of gratitude to everybody that was involved in that decision. And that’s for sure Edu, that’s Tim [Lewis], that’s Vinai [Venkatesham], that’s a lot of people that were there.”
Lewis, the former vice-chairman who left in somewhat controversial circumstances, was a guest of Parish here.
Palace, as Parish made sure, had their own festivities to go through. Oliver Glasner actually gave his 24-minute press conference during the trophy lift. If many media were still outside, the big headline was that he’s already turned down a number of jobs. He’s done quite a job at Palace.
In the Europa Conference League, he’s also got another trophy to win.
And so does Arteta. Like many at the club right now, he referenced how this can be a platform.
“My job now and everybody at the club is going to be to lift those standards now and achieve much more, because I think we are capable of doing it.”
That’s not just about the medium-term future, though. There’s also next week, and the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest. If it would be wrong to describe an event as momentous as this as “a free hit”, Arteta spoke about enjoying the freedom of this celebratory feeling.
“We need that energy to flow, and going against that, I think it will be a big mistake. We talked about already what we have to do in Budapest, how we’re going to use all the incredible energy that we’re all carrying towards that final, and tomorrow we’re going to start to prepare it. And yeah, we can’t wait to write a new chapter in the history of our club and lift the Champions League.”
Asked whether he has actually been able to reflect on what it means to be a champion, Arteta said it hadn’t quite got to that.
“I think now we need to go through the motions and do what we’ve done all season, which is win football matches. We win one more, and we are the champions of Europe. As simple as that.”
There’s still so much more to it, though, as the feeling around this very trophy lift shows.
