Viktor Gyökeres earns Shearer praise as Arsenal reach the Champions League final

Arsenal are through to the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years, but the loudest post-match praise went to Viktor Gyökeres rather than the scorer. Bukayo Saka got the only goal in the win over Atletico Madrid, and Arsenal went through 2-1 on aggregate, yet Alan Shearer and Daniel Sturridge both focused on the striker's running, hold-up play and willingness to absorb contact.

Why Gyökeres drew the strongest praise

Shearer was blunt about what he saw. “Apart from that miss his centre forward play has been superb. His running off the ball, his hold up play for his team, taking knocks all night and making runs… he really has been exceptional,” he told football365.com. “He offered Arsenal so much tonight.”

Sturridge went even further. “Gyokeres was the best player tonight for me,” he said. “He took so much pressure off the defenders, when you launch it up top thinking can it stick, can you hold it up for us? He did it all for them.”

That kind of praise matters because it goes beyond the easy headline. Gyökeres has 14 Premier League goals and 5 Champions League goals, so this was not a case of pundits admiring a centre-forward for doing nothing in attack. The point was that he made Arsenal play higher up the pitch and gave them an outlet when Atletico tried to compress the game.

The numbers back up that broader impression. His Premier League season rating is 6.63, while his Champions League rating is 6.81. That is not a massive gap, but it does support the idea that his sharper work has travelled well into Europe.

Arsenal's final is built on more than one night

The other thing Arsenal deserve credit for is the defensive base that got them here in the first place. Wenger said they were “strong defensively” and “disciplined”, and the record in Europe supports that reading. Arsenal have 9 shutouts in 14 Champions League games this season, and their path to the final has been built on control rather than chaos.

Wenger also pushed back on the idea that the celebrations were excessive. Wayne Rooney said the celebrations were “a little bit too heavy”, but Wenger called the happiness “absolutely normal” and said the next step is to go to the final and win it. That feels like the right read. If you reach your first Champions League final in 20 years, celebrating is not a crime, even if the job is not finished.

The bigger picture is simple enough. Arsenal still have one final and three league games left as they chase an unprecedented double, so the season is still alive on two fronts. For now, though, the defining image from the Atletico Madrid win is not just Saka's goal, it is Gyökeres doing the dirty work that made the win feel controlled rather than frantic.