LONDON, England (AFP) — Mikel Arteta said that Arsenal fans “set the standards” after the Gunners reached the UEFA Champions League final with a 2-1 aggregate win against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

Arsenal won the second leg at the Emirates 1-0, courtesy of a first-half goal from Bukayo Saka.

The Gunners, who have never been European champions, will face Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in Budapest later this month — 20 years after their only other appearance in the final.

“It’s an amazing night. To live these kind of moments with our people, our players, everybody at the club, it’s just an incredible feeling,” Arsenal manager Arteta told Amazon Prime.

“It makes sense, a lot of the things that we do and we go through, when you just see so many happy faces and so many people proud of what we are doing.

“It was unbelievable right from the beginning — the manner that our supporters waited for us at the stadium, the energy, the passion that they put in, it was just great to witness.”

Arteta said that his players fed off the fizzing atmosphere at the Emirates.

“I think they set the standards and we tried to catch up with them immediately. It’s so good after so many years to give that joy back to them and see that pride in their eyes. It’s beautiful to watch.”

The Spaniard said that what pleased him most was the togetherness of his men.

“It was very difficult to make certain decisions and I feel a lot for the boys, because I know generally how good people they are and some of them, I talked to them this afternoon and I said, ‘I apologise, I’m going to play the same team’.

“And their reaction immediately was, ‘I’m here when you need me, I’m going to be right with the team’ and gave me a hug, so what else do I want?”

Arteta said that Saka, who featured in his first Arsenal team in December 2019, was a fitting match winner.

“It had to be someone very special and he’s certainly someone very special with me and for the boys and for everybody attached to this club, so if he had to be someone scoring that goal, probably it had to be him.”

The Gunners have four games left this season as they chase a historic double of Champions League and English Premier League.

They are in the driving seat to win their first English league for 22 years, five points clear of Manchester City having played one game more than Pep Guardiola’s men.

Long-serving Atletico boss Diego Simeone said that he did not want to make excuses after his team’s defeat.

“If we got knocked out it’s because our opponents deserved to go through, they took their big chance in the first half and they deserved to go through. I feel calm, I feel peaceful,” he told UEFA.

“We weren’t clinical enough with the situations we were in. We improved in the second half. There were things that could’ve gone our way but they didn’t.

“We gave it our all and now we have to accept the place that we are in. Thanks to our supporters and players I feel proud to be where we are right now.”