00:01He's done it or not?
00:02He hasn't done it yet. It's all full.
00:04It's okay.
00:05Okay, that's fine.
00:09Dharmesh.
00:10Hello.
00:13Good evening, everyone.
00:14Hope everyone's well.
00:18Hope everyone's good. If you have a question,
00:20raise your hand and we'll come to you. I believe
00:21Dharmesh from Sky wants to go there.
00:24Are you sure?
00:25Yeah, exactly.
00:27We'll kick off with...
00:28We've got a mic in the room, so over to Dharmesh.
00:33Thanks, Dan.
00:35Mikel, congratulations.
00:36Thank you. Can you just put into words
00:38how proud you are of your players,
00:41the fans
00:42and yourself?
00:45It's an incredible
00:46night.
00:48We made history again
00:50together and I cannot be
00:52happier and prouder for everybody that is involved
00:54in this football club.
00:55The manner that we got received
00:58outside the stadium already was special
01:00and unique.
01:01The atmosphere our supporters created, the energy,
01:04the way they lived their revolt with us.
01:06It made it special and unique.
01:08I never felt that in the stadium.
01:11We knew how much it meant to everybody.
01:13We put everything.
01:14The boys did an incredible job.
01:17After 20 years
01:18and for the second time in our history
01:20we are back in the Champions League final.
01:23Alex, BBC.
01:24Hi, Mikel.
01:25How proud of you of the whole campaign, unbeaten
01:28all the way through.
01:28It feels like some of your best performances of the season
01:30have come in this competition as well.
01:32Yes, because we know how difficult and challenging
01:35every opponent is at this level.
01:38Atletico, they are an incredible team.
01:40The way they compete, the solution they have,
01:42the answers they have to everything that you try
01:44to do to them immediately.
01:45It's incredible. That's the reason that they've been there.
01:48Diego is doing an outstanding job there.
01:51The margins are so small and tonight they've gone for us.
01:57There was perhaps some surprise at the line-up
02:00being the exact same as what we saw at the weekend.
02:03What was the feeling that made you select that team?
02:05I mean, if you see my iPad,
02:08the amount of line-ups that I've done and put it
02:11and change it and turn it again and what about this?
02:13Freshness and the possible subs
02:15and if they do that we do this.
02:18At the end it was my gut feeling.
02:19And I had such a good feeling for what I saw a few days ago
02:23against Fulham that I said.
02:25I need to do that.
02:26It was painful because it's always difficult to leave.
02:29Important players out because they all want to be involved
02:31and start these kind of games.
02:33But you saw all the finishes,
02:37the manner that they got into the pitch
02:38and how much they helped the team.
02:40James, CVS?
02:41Hamika, what was going through your head in that moment
02:43where the ball loops up from Willow's head
02:46and it sort of feels like it's breaking
02:47and Gabby comes out of nowhere and saves the day?
02:50What's going through your head in that moment?
02:52The order immediately.
02:53My wife, my kids, my parents, my sister
02:56and then all the people that are involved at the club
02:59because I know immediately what it feels.
03:01But, yeah, you can think and say,
03:03OK, it's going to be a beautiful night.
03:05But when you actually are looking somebody in the eye
03:07and he has that expression,
03:09you look to the supporters
03:11and they are just immensely proud and happy.
03:15That's when our job makes sense
03:17because many of the times it's difficult
03:18to find the right reason why we do what we do.
03:20But when these things happen,
03:22then everything that we do obviously is worth it.
03:26I wonder if you could just put some perspective
03:28on not just this season's journey
03:30but in Europe going back five seasons ago
03:33there was no Europe,
03:34then the Europa,
03:35then getting back in the Champions League,
03:37then getting to a semi and now a final.
03:39How do you feel about how hard it is
03:42to kind of bit by bit
03:43in quite a quick period of time
03:46to make that jump?
03:48Yeah, well, it's very tough and difficult
03:51but, again, we've all been so aligned
03:53on the desire and ambition that we had for the club.
03:57And then you have to be sometimes lucky,
04:00things have to go your way.
04:02We put obviously so much work, passion
04:04and belief into what we do
04:06and today we got rewarded
04:09to have an incredible day in Budapest in a few weeks.
04:13Sam, take it off.
04:14Hi, Mikel.
04:15You spent six and a half years
04:16trying to turn this stadium into something ferocious, hostile.
04:21Was that tonight kind of the high point of that for you?
04:25Yeah.
04:26That box is thick now.
04:28Now we have to maintain it.
04:29But now we go to the level that I think
04:33a top club that wants to be fighting consistently
04:36for the highest trophies,
04:39that's a must.
04:40And we've got it now,
04:42and now we have to maintain it.
04:44Isan Delima.
04:45Hi, Mikel.
04:46You've had a lot of ups and downs this season
04:48and you always say take one game at a time.
04:50But after the City result last night,
04:52after what you've done here,
04:53is there a feeling that this could really be
04:55one of the most historic seasons
04:56in the 140-year history of this club?
04:59The high is not too high.
05:01The low is not too low.
05:02Yeah.
05:02My job is to be quite stable.
05:05I really enjoy it.
05:06Everybody is enjoying this moment now.
05:08Tomorrow we have to start to prepare for Sunday.
05:10We have an incredible game now to play against West Ham.
05:13A really tough one.
05:15And we're going to have four days to do that.
05:16So it's great.
05:18Let's enjoy the moment.
05:19But tomorrow they start to leave the present again.
05:21Okay, we'll do a couple more in English
05:22and then we'll go to Spanish.
05:23Martin.
05:24Yeah, Mikel.
05:25A few weeks ago it felt very different.
05:29There was a sense of fear in this stadium.
05:32Some of your players looked fatigued.
05:34What have you done to change things?
05:38What have you had to do?
05:39Or is it within them?
05:41Is it something you sense just had to be brought out of them?
05:45That it was always there,
05:46but they maybe doubted it themselves?
05:49It's down to them.
05:50At the end there it was that they have to put these kind of performances.
05:53I can try to convince them.
05:56And give them love and clarity on what is, in my opinion,
06:01the most important things.
06:02To be competitive and give us the chance to win what we want to achieve.
06:05But then they have to do it.
06:07And it's an incredible group of players and staff.
06:11And yeah, in elite sports, in football in particular,
06:14you can live a really difficult day.
06:16But if you can work it, maybe you get rewarded.
06:18And we've certainly done it in the last few weeks.
06:22Hi, Mikael.
06:23Hi.
06:23I appreciate you obviously trying to keep your feet on the ground.
06:26But after that result yesterday with the City and now into that final,
06:29you must feel as though the momentum is really behind you.
06:32It's great.
06:33You know, everybody can feel a shift in energy and belief in everything.
06:38Let's use it in the right way.
06:40And understanding that the margins and the difficulty of what we are trying to achieve,
06:45it's huge.
06:46But we have the ability and conviction today.
06:49That's for sure.
06:50Okay, we're just on Spanish now.
06:51Juan from La Maca.
06:52Thank you very much.
06:54Thank you very much.
07:00Thank you very much.
07:08Thank you very much.
07:18We're going to get out to a couple of items and ready.
07:22We're going to need a lot of support for everyone.
07:25And then we're going to be with the team.
07:27We're going to try this together.
07:28All the teams, we've got out of that.
07:30We're going to point out to the team.
07:32We've got to be in the middle of the team.
07:34We can go ahead and play them.
07:35We've got some really good teams that might happen.
07:40We're going to go ahead and slow down a little bit.
07:43We decided to start a little bit off,
07:45We have to go ahead and do a little bit with the one.
07:45You talked about the first game of the Ida, you talked about a decisive game.
07:50I wanted to ask you what you think of the team.
07:53Thank you very much.
07:54I think you've been very good.
07:55I don't think there's anything to talk about.
08:00Okay, one right at the back.
08:01So if you could shout in Spanish, that would be lovely. Thank you.
08:05We have a microphone.
08:06Hello, Miquel.
08:07Buenas noches in direct for the COPE.
08:11You talked about it in the Ida, you talked about the árbitros.
08:15They didn't want to talk much about the Vuelta.
08:18They have declared a possible penalty against the Atletico Madrid.
08:21I wanted to ask you about the two environments.
08:23First, the penalty and then the environment that he said.
08:25He said something like check, also here in London.
08:28The first question is about the penalty that declared the Atletico Madrid.
08:33And the second question is the environment that he said.
08:36He said, yes, I have achieved what he wanted in the Arsenal,
08:38that I value much the Metropolitan, the environment in the stadium.
08:42No, because the question was related to that.
08:44If we were able to be able to contagiar, to generate an environment
08:50of the level that we saw in Madrid when we played there.
08:54And we have achieved it.
08:55Since the team has reached the illusion, the energy that we have transmitted
08:59in the Champions League, I think has been exceptional.
09:02I have never experienced it.
09:03And obviously, it helps a lot to achieve great goals.
09:07Okay, last one.
09:08First, you're here in Spanish.
09:09That's okay, Char.
09:11Is that a victory more tactical or more emotional?
09:16Emotional.
09:17Emotional.
09:17Tactic, now everything that he prepared before is is very good.
09:22But you have to take decisions in there,
09:24and you have to take decisions in there when there are a lot of things
09:26and when the margins are very small.
09:29I think the team has been very well.
09:31Finally, there are a gentlemen here in the glasses.
09:34Michael, a massive congratulations to you and the team, the coaching staff.
09:38When you took over Arsenal, they were loitering around in eighth place.
09:42There was a complete shift to the club, whether that be signing good talent,
09:47good talent coming through Hayland.
09:49And I think everyone for this season has looked at Max Daumann as the player,
09:53the new player from Hayland.
09:54I just wanted to ask you, was playing Myles-Louis Skelly this late in the season
09:59an intentional wildcard, knowing that teams had not prepared for his style of play,
10:03not just at full-back, but in midfield?
10:06No, it wasn't the intention.
10:08I don't know why we're provoking the opponent, it wasn't.
10:10It's just the feeling.
10:12And I think I've been tough on him, quite tough.
10:16And he's been very, very persistent and consistent in his behaviours
10:21and in the manner that he's been knocking on the door constantly to earn the right to play.
10:26And I think he deserves it, and that's why he played.
10:29Thanks, everyone.
10:30Good night.
Comments