Declan Rice has issued an impassioned plea to Arsenal supporters, urging 200,000 fans to descend on Budapest and propel the club towards an historic first Champions League title.
The midfielder’s rallying cry follows Bukayo Saka’s decisive goal at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, which secured a 2-1 aggregate triumph over Atletico Madrid and a place in the showpiece final in the Hungarian capital on 30 May – Arsenal’s first on Europe’s grandest stage in 20 years.
The Gunners’ European success comes hot on the heels of Manchester City’s 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday, a result that has placed the Premier League title race firmly in Arsenal’s hands. Mikel Arteta’s men are now just four matches away from potentially completing the greatest campaign in the club’s 140-year history.
Despite Uefa allocating Arsenal a mere 16,824 tickets for the 67,000-capacity Puskas Arena, Rice envisions a sea of red for the final against either Bayern Munich or PSG. He declared: 'Bring it on, bring it on, I’ll be ready. I want every Arsenal fan out there, 200,000 of you, come out. Let’s try and do it because we’re going to need all the support, all the energy and let’s make it special.'
The palpable tension that has often characterised matches at the Emirates this calendar year was replaced by a pulsating atmosphere on Tuesday night, which Rice described as the greatest the stadium has witnessed since its inception in 2006. Thousands of Arsenal supporters had lined the streets surrounding the ground, creating a ferocious welcome for the team coach.
Arsenal will now turn their immediate attention back to the Premier League title race, with a pivotal fixture against relegation-threatened West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday, followed by a home match against Burnley and a final-day clash at Crystal Palace.
