Mikel Arteta sends heartfelt message to Pep Guardiola after Arsenal defeat Real Madrid in Champions League | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has received a heartfelt message from Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on a historic night for the North London club in the Spanish capital.

The Gunners secured a place in the UEFA Champions League semi-final stage for the first time since 2009 as they dismissed of the reigning champions of Europe, Real Madrid via a staggering 1-5 aggregate scoreline across two legs.

A memorable 3-0 home win over Los Blancos in North London last week was followed up by a further impressive 90 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu, as Arsenal recorded a 1-2 away win to set up a last-four meeting with Paris Saint-Germain later this month.

Manchester City may have failed to reach the last-16 of this season’s competition themselves having been knocked out in a play-off tie by Carlo Ancelotti’s side, although their presence in one way or another was felt by Mikel Arteta in his own meeting with Real Madrid.

The 43-year-old said after the first-leg at the Emirates Stadium of City boss Pep Guardiola, “We talked coming into this, I wanted to talk to him.

“He’s someone who admires the good things we’ve done and it’s important to learn from the best, learn from people who have that experience. He’s a very intelligent person and I’ve had the good fortune to work with someone like that who has been able to help me much.”

And now speaking to the media from the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, Mikel Arteta offered his heartfelt thanks to the Manchester City manager and his close friend on a historic night for both himself and Arsenal.

“I called him (Pep Guardiola) this morning (ahead of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu) because I think that if I’m here it’s thanks to him to a greater extent,” Arteta admitted to reporters.

The Spaniard continued, “As a player and as a coach he’s been an inspiration for me and he’s the person that decided to bet on me, to include me as a second coach.

“I lived four amazing years with him (at Manchester City) and I have to be grateful, I’ll always be grateful to him otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

Pep Guardiola is currently on a difficult streak against Mikel Arteta across competitions, having failed to defeat his managerial counterpart since a memorable win at home in the run-in towards the 2023 Premier League title.

The last time the two coach’s met came earlier this year when a staggering home performance from Arsenal saw the North Londoners cruise to a dominant 5-1 win over the reigning Premier League champions.

With Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the third round stage of the competition this campaign, that means that they will not face Manchester City until next season, with the traditional knockout tournament at the last-four stage with the Etihad club facing Nottingham Forest this month.