阿森纳的 22 年：从差一点到冠军

A London morning.

Every newspaper, the same front page:

Arsenal are champions.

If you don't follow football,

this is just an ordinary news story.

If you follow football,

this is the biggest thing in 22 years.

Arsenal are an old club in the Premier League (England's top football division).

The last time they were champions,

was back in 2003–2004.

That season,

they didn't lose a single match.

The English called them "the Invincibles."

But after that,

Arsenal never won the Premier League again.

During that time,

they changed many managers.

They changed many players.

They spent a lot of money.

But the title,

they just couldn't get.

Why?

Because the Premier League is hard.

Over the past dozen years,

there was a team that was especially strong,

called Manchester City.

Man City has a Spanish manager,

named Pep Guardiola.

After he arrived,

Man City kept winning the title.

In seven years,

they won it six times.

Arsenal kept chasing,

and kept not catching up.

Until this year.

This year,

Arsenal's manager is named Arteta.

Arteta also used to play for Arsenal.

In 2019,

he came in as manager.

When he arrived,

Arsenal weren't strong.

They were 8th, 9th.

They couldn't even get into European competition.

Arteta slowly built it up.

He sold some players.

He bought some young ones.

Saka, Ødegaard, Rice, Saliba —

those are names every Arsenal fan today knows.

He spent five years.

Twice along the way they came close to the title.

But each time Man City took it.

The fans were sad,

Arteta was sad too.

But he didn't give up.

This year was his sixth.

Arsenal played steadily from the start.

Won lots of matches,

lost very few.

Against Man City, they won too.

Before the final two matches,

Arsenal were already first.

Their points were several ahead of Man City.

On May 18, Sunday,

Arsenal played a team called Burnley.

Arsenal won 1–0.

At this point,

the title wasn't yet decided.

It depended on Man City's next match.

On May 19,

Man City traveled to Bournemouth.

Bournemouth isn't a big team.

Everyone thought Man City would win.

But that's football for you.

Bournemouth scored first.

Then Man City equalized.

Final 1–1.

Man City did not win.

With that,

Man City could no longer catch Arsenal.

There was still one match left,

but the points gap was too big.

Arsenal are champions.

England's TV, papers, websites,

all of it became Arsenal at once.

Arsenal's fans

cried in the streets of London,

hugged each other in pubs.

Some fans

had learned to love Arsenal from their fathers.

Their fathers are no longer with them.

They held their own children and said:

"We finally got there.

In an interview, Arteta said:

"This isn't something I did alone.

"It's everyone's work.

"The players, the fans, and everyone who ever helped us before.

"We waited 22 years.

"Now we did it.

What about Man City?

Man City's manager Guardiola said:

"Arsenal deserved this year.

"We need to look at how we get better.

This kind of talk,

he rarely said before.

Because he used to be the winner.

But this time,

he lost.

Still,

Arsenal's story isn't over.

On May 30,

they'll travel to Budapest, Hungary.

There's an even bigger match there,

called the Champions League final.

They'll face Paris Saint-Germain of France.

If Arsenal win,

they'll be the kings of Europe.

That's something the club has never done in its history.

If they lose,

the Premier League title is already enough.

This news made me think:

how long is 22 years?

In 22 years,

phones in China went from feature phones to smartphones.

China went from the world's 6th-largest economy

to the 2nd.

Some babies grew up into adults.

22 years

is a complete story.

Arsenal's 22 years

is a sports story.

But what it tells us

isn't only about sports.

It tells us:

if you really love something,

don't leave just because you've lost.

One day,

your year will come.

Okay.

That's all for today.

Talk tomorrow.