Declan Rice praised his Arsenal team-mate Myles Lewis-Skelly who was “thrown into the deep end of a Champions League semi-final”.
Arsenal booked their place in the final with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Atlético Madrid, with a first-half goal from Bukayo Saka doing the job in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
After his impressive performance against Fulham at the weekend, Lewis-Skelly was rewarded with another start alongside Rice.
Lewis-Skelly started in a Champions League semi-final for the third time (after doing so twice against Paris Saint-Germain last season), and only two players started more as a teenager (Iker Casillas and Kanu, four each).
The 19-year-old, who was not born when Arsenal last reached the Champions League final, completed 44 of his 49 attempted passes (third-most for Arsenal) and was unlucky not to create a goal when he sent a cross into the six-yard box in the first half.
Lewis-Skelly also won 100% of his aerial duels (3/3) helping to keep Atleti’s forwards at bay before being substituted in the 74th minute.
Rice was not surprised by Lewis-Skelly’s performance and credited his midfield partner for his resilience this season.
“We’ve always known what Myles can do,” Rice told Amazon Prime.
14 – Of the 44 cases in which a team played more than 14 games in a @Champions League In this campaign, Arsenal are now the only ones to remain unbeaten in their first 14 games of a single edition. Hungry. pic.twitter.com/3zRy3mls5g
-OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 5, 2026
“Last year, when he played so many games. When he played as a left-back at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid, he really took a step forward at 18, I thought ‘Wow, we have a player.’
“Our coach this year has been tough on him behind the scenes. He hasn’t played as much as he wanted to, but he stuck to his guns and kept working.”
“He does everything right: early, training, gym. Now he has his opportunity, he is ready and he has taken advantage of it.”
“To be thrown into the deep end of a Champions League semi-final and perform the way he did, very good.”
Arsenal kept a clean sheet for the 30th time in all competitions this season, the most in a single campaign since 1993-94 (30) and the most by a Premier League team since Liverpool in 2021-22 (32).
