There was a moment in Budapest on Saturday evening when the noise from the Arsenal end stopped being a sound and became something else entirely. It be...
There was a moment in Budapest on Saturday evening when the noise from the Arsenal end stopped being a sound and became something else entirely. It became a release. A collective howl of relief that had been building since 2004, since the Invincibles walked off the pitch at Highbury for the last time unbeaten, since the trophy drought began, since the near misses stacked up like unpaid debts. And there, watching it all unfold from the stands, was the old cornerstone of that immortal backline. Sol Campbell, a man who knows exactly what it takes to go a full Premier League season without a single defeat, was finally able to exhale.This was not just another Champions League final for Paris Saint Germain against Arsenal. This was the culmination of a psychological marathon. For two decades and two years, the burden of that Invincible season has been both a badge of honour and a millstone around the neck of every Arsenal side that followed. The wait, as Campbell put it, has been heavy. He felt it. The players felt it. The supporters, who have watched their club come so close year after year only to fall short at the final hurdle, have carried it with a stoicism that borders on the heroic.What we witnessed in Budapest was not simply a victory of tactical flexibility or clinical finishing, though Arsenal showed plenty of both. What we saw was the end of an era of 'squeaky bum time', of the old familiar anxiety that used to creep into the Arsenal legs in the final stretch. Mikel Arteta's side did not park the bus. They did not retreat into a low block and hope for the best. They played with the freedom of a team that had finally shed its history. They played as though the ghost of 2004 had been laid to rest.Campbell's words carry weight because he was there when it was pure. He knows that the pressure on his successors has been immense, a constant whispering of 'you aren't them, are you' every time silverware slipped away. But now, that first title in 22 years is theirs. The pent up release, that outpouring of joy and togetherness, was real. And for a club that has so often been accused of having a soft centre, there was nothing soft about the way they finally got over the line.The question now is whether this is the beginning of a new dynasty or a single glorious peak. But for tonight, let's not bother with that. Tonight belongs to the waiters. Tonight belongs to Sol Campbell. And tonight, Arsenal are champions of Europe.
