Rilwan@Real1_balogun
For context.
Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Ben White, William Saliba, David Raya, Leandro Trossard, and Gabriel Martinelli made their UCL debuts in 2023/24.
Eberechi Eze, Cristhian Mosquera and Christian Norgaard made theirs this season.
Lewis-Skelly made his last season.
Stretch it further to that bench against Sporting Lisbon and you have Max Dowman and Marli Salmon, both 16 and have played in the UCL for the first time this season.
In those three seasons of debuting for the ones initially mentioned, they've made the quarterfinals once and the semifinals twice.
For the debutants, it's a semifinal appearance at their first time of asking.
Zubimendi didn't make his UCL debut until 2023. Gyokeres only made his debut in 2024. It's their first UCL semifinal.
That's a team that has done what most of them have never experienced. I don't care how they got there. It's big deal to them. It has to be.
I'm looking at it purely from a player lens now because what it is to Arsenal is established. It's new waters. Arsenal were never in this position in that competition.
To do what they've done in the last three seasons is not a mean feat and that group has to know they've come way. As always, titles crown glories in football, but context mustn't be die on the altar of criticism.
