A pair of outstanding Declan Rice free-kicks and a third from Mikel Merino put the Gunners in dreamland, as the club recorded arguably its most memorable night at the Emirates Stadium since its inception in 2006, ahead of a daunting trip to the Bernabeu next week.
And Arteta said: “We had a complete and big performance collectively, and you need that in terms of organisation, in terms of what we had to do to dominate the game and to create Madrid problems.
“And then this night is about all the two factors; one is the atmosphere that we created 15 minutes before kick-off, already something I haven’t seen before, so playing with that energy, with that commitment, with your crowd, makes a huge difference.”
Prior to the match, Arsenal had not scored from a direct free-kick since Martin Ødegaard netted in a 1-0 win at Burnley in September of 2021, something Arteta and his squad were very much aware of going into the Madrid game.
The Spaniard added: “He’s (Rice) been very determined because we have talked in the last few months. We haven’t scored a direct free-kick since September 2021, Burnley away, Martin Ødegaard.
“It’s been a long time, so to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude of that quality from the same player, a player that has never scored a free-kick before in his career, I mean, what are the odds?
“But he’s done it tonight, and I’m a big believer. I think the crowd played something with the energy they put in, and it helped us massively to win the game.”
Both Rice and Bukayo Saka were withdrawn with what looked like injuries after Merino had scored the third goal, and Arteta gave an update on the pair’s fitness ahead of the Premier League fixture against Brentford this weekend.
“Dec had an issue with the foot; I don’t know if it was a tackle or what it was, and Bukayo, after he got tackled on the foul, I think he had a knock, and he had to go,” he said when asked about their fitness.
Arteta was also questioned on whether Rice’s injury was serious, to which he simply responded: “It doesn’t look serious, no.”
Merino’s strike put the icing on the cake to cap off an extraordinary evening for the Gunners as the Spaniard continued to shine in his unorthodox position as a centre-forward.
“It’s been a season that we have to adapt. We went through a lot of things; we lost probably our best defender as well for four months,” Arteta said after centre-back Gabriel was ruled out for the remainder of the season last week.
“Jakub (Kiwior) comes in, and he delivers the performances that he’s delivering. It’s not a coincidence. The way they train, the way they apply themselves and the way they help each other, I think, produces those moments.
“With Mikel (Merino), it’s again his commitment, his desire to learn the position, to constantly be thinking and what he can offer to the team.”
Arsenal host Brentford on Saturday (5.30pm) before taking to the Bernabeu on Wednesday (April 16), looking to secure a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009.