Arsenal reached the Champions League final after a 2-1 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid, with Bukayo Saka scoring the decisive first-half goal in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium. Myles Lewis-Skelly started again alongside Declan Rice, having impressed against Fulham on the weekend, and delivered another composed display on the biggest European stage.
Rice strongly backed the young midfielder after the match and underlined that the squad already rated Lewis-Skelly highly. "We've always known what Myles can do, Rice told Amazon Prime. " Rice felt the performance against Atletico Madrid simply confirmed qualities shown over several demanding appearances in domestic and European fixtures.
Lewis-Skelly, now 19, started a Champions League
semi-final for the third time, after doing so twice against Paris Saint-Germain last season. Only Iker Casillas and Kanu, with four starts each, have begun more semi-finals as teenagers. Lewis-Skelly was not born when Arsenal last reached a Champions League final.
Across his 74 minutes, Lewis-Skelly completed 44 of 49 passes, the third-highest total for Arsenal. One low cross in the first half flashed through the six-yard box and almost produced a goal. Lewis-Skelly also won all three of his aerial duels, limiting Atletico Madrid’s forwards before being substituted.
Arsenal’s defensive structure again held firm, with the team recording a 30th clean sheet in all competitions this season. That figure matches the club’s best tally since the 1993-94 campaign and is the highest number recorded by any Premier League side since Liverpool finished with 32 during the 2021-22 season.
Rice highlighted that Lewis-Skelly had already handled difficult assignments in previous seasons, pointing to a standout display at left-back. Last year, Lewis-Skelly filled that role at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid and impressed Rice. During that night, Rice said, "Wow, we have a player. " That moment shaped Rice’s view of the teenager’s maturity.
Rice explained that the manager applied strong demands on Lewis-Skelly this season, and minutes were limited. Rice said the midfielder accepted the situation, stayed focused in training and in the gym, and maintained standards. When a starting place arrived in this Champions League semi-final, Rice felt Lewis-Skelly showed full readiness and handled a high-pressure occasion with control.
14 - Of the 44 instances of a team playing 14+ games in a @ChampionsLeague campaign, Arsenal are now the only one to remain unbeaten through their first 14 matches of a single edition. Hungry. pic.twitter.com/3zRy3mls5gOptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 5, 2026
The win continued an unbeaten Champions League campaign for Arsenal, extending the run to 14 matches in this edition. Combined with a strong clean-sheet record, those numbers underline how Arsenal balanced solid defending with effective attacking play while integrating Lewis-Skelly into major fixtures, including this semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
