Around half a million Arsenal fans are expected to watch their team’s open-bus top victory parade through north London this afternoon, celebrating the men’s side’s first Premier League win for 22 years, and the women’s team taking the first-ever Champions Cup.
Thousands of people began arriving along the 5.6-mile parade route in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Mikel Arteta’s squad began their parade at 2pm with a huge police operation deployed amid reports that a million people would descend on the wider area.
It is a bittersweet celebration, with Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães saying their Champions League penalty shoot-out defeat on Saturday night was “painful”.
But Arsenal put their European heartbreak behind them to embark on a parade through the streets of north London to celebrate their Premier League title success.
The women’s side beat the Brazilian Corinthians team 3-2 in February, with goals from Olivia Smith, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Caitlin Foord.
Speaking after the game, captain Kim Little said the team showed “incredible” character, and would “take a lot” from winning the first Champions Cup.
“It’s great to get the win,” she said. “We showed incredible character and resilience to lose the goal right at the end and come back in extra time. The girls did great.
“It’s obviously a unique experience, it being the first Champions Cup. We’ll take a lot from winning today and getting a trophy.”
In the men’s Champions League final on Saturday, Gabriel missed the crucial spot-kick against Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions retained their crown following a 1-1 draw in Budapest.
“It’s painful, but I’m proud of this team and everything we achieved together this season,” Gabriel wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you to our incredible fans for your support every step of the way. You deserve to celebrate this journey with us and enjoy the parade today!
“See you next season!”
Arsenal had been hoping for a double celebration by following up their league success with a first Champions League trophy in the club’s 140-year history.
Kai Havertz fired them into an early lead in the Hungarian capital, but PSG equalised through Ousmane Dembele’s penalty, and Eberechi Eze and Gabriel both missed in the shoot-out.
Arteta’s crestfallen players departed their hotel a few hours after the crushing loss, with the Arsenal manager vowing to use the setback as “fuel” to carry them to glory next season.
Arteta said: “First of all, you have to go through that pain, digest it and turn it into fuel to improve and to reach a different level.
“I will take a few days with my family and then I will start the process to review what we’ve done.
“We will start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level.
“And we’re going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it. But it’s going to demand us to be very, very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”
More than 500 Met Police officers have been deployed to cover the event, alongside specialist search and drone teams, and the force said there will be no trophy lift along the route as the buses will move continuously.
This comes after French police detained 480 people in Paris and 300 more in 15 other French cities following riots that broke out after Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters that 57 police officers had been wounded, most with minor injuries, after fans set off fires and vandalised shops. A small group even tried to storm a Paris police station.
Following the men’s team’s win last week, The i Paper’s chief football writer, Daniel Storey, said fans should “bask in the realisation that a superpower has been toppled,” with Arsenal rising where Manchester City had wilted.
“This has not been a vintage Premier League season, in terms of quality or entertainment,” he wrote. “But why would Arsenal give a damn about that? They built a squad that they believed could be controlled and consistent and they were proven spectacularly right. They became a mirror of the league itself and that’s why they won.”
At the final whistle in Man City’s match against Bournemouth, which meant the Gunners had taken the title, the Arsenal squad celebrated at their training ground by dancing and chanting: “Campeones, Campeones, Ole Ole Ole!” Captain Declan Rice posted on Instagram: “It’s done.”
With agencies
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