Every time the great Liverpool team of the 1980s won a trophy, which was quite often, they recited, “First is first, and second is nowhere.” That underlines the absence of any glory and the defeat that comes with being second. It seems Mikel Arteta has adopted this philosophy as first place is the only position he is seeking, while second is a place Arsenal wants to eradicate if the nickname ‘The Nearly Team’ is not one they want to be associated with.

This fascination with ladders that have no ends seems to work for Arteta because his team is competing in the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint Germain. The game will be held at the Emirates Stadium, with the first match being on Tuesday. While parts of Arteta’s philosophy have come to fruition, it remains to be seen whether or not they choke as they did last season.

So, at what point will their Champions League expedition end this season: First or nowhere?

As with most enjoyable journeys, winners go for Liverpool makes for easy acceptance, having won seven League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cups, and the Europa Cup (now called Champions League) in the 1980s and get Liverpool’s attitude right as fun and free to brutal is fine make stroke them with success in the Liverpool near misses Liverpool call claim to success and area demeanor towards each others ending lies devoid. But going close at almost achieving in and really is always a part integral exercise by Liverpool hints at that lesson during Jürgen Klopp’s 9 years decade Liverpool orbit of multi-years management coupled windows with cross seasons.

They lifted the Champions League trophy in the 2019 finals against Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid. This success triggered a Herhemonian flood of silverware at Anfield, alongside the Premier League, EFL Cup, and FA Cup, which were won at least once by Klopp during his reign at Liverpool managerobeofendesonon 3intbodyelt them when Achilles mali heel.

Arsenal are yet to experience that ‘breaking point’ moment which catapults them into superpower status ever since Arteta took over. Ending the 2019-20 FA Cup with a win in the finals against Chelsea did serve Arsenal’s purpose, but only partially, as Arteta now has a trophy on his management resume. Chelsea’s starting right back at the time, Kieran Tierney, is now the only player from the squad still residing at Arsenal, and he is sailing away as a free agent in the light of a few seasons where he fell off the starting roster in the hopes of a first-team revival.

One of the substitutes on the bench was an 18-year-old Saka, who, along with the other players in Arteta’s squad, has yet to taste victory with the Gunners.

Under the reign of Arteta, Arsenal has without doubt dropped the ‘pretender’ tag and emerged as a serious contender’ contender’ status in premier football tournaments. Their standing in these tournaments has also seen a nice hike, and it seems like Arsenal is all set to record a third consecutive 2nd place finish in the premier league. Furthermore, the pressure of the team not being able to provide serious championship challenges decreases this narrative even more. The overwhelming amount of 7 games drawn in Premier League 2025 by the Gunners is alongside the number of all other competitions combined by Liverpool throughout the year.

The 5-1 aggregate victory against Real Madrid during the Champions League quarterfinals was eye-opening, although now it is up to Arteta’s team to deliver a trophy.

“‘The dream is to win, to win the big trophies, and that’s where we are,'” Arteta said while speaking to AS earlier this month. ‘We’ve turned it around, and now it’s time to win.'”

“The reality is we have taken so many steps; it’s time to win. Judgement is natural because this is Arsenal; if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be Arsenal. People will judge on whether we win or not. If you’re close enough, you will have your turn at the end.”

Despite the fact that the team is advancing under Arteta’s guidance, since Arsenal’s “Invincibles” around 2003-04, they have only won 4 trophies, and those are four FA Cups. On the other hand, Arsenal’s rivals Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool have won 19, 18, 15, and 10 titles respectively, leaving Arsenal far behind.

Ever since Arsenal won the FA Cup during Arteta’s tenure, they have reached the semifinals of both the Europa League and League Cup but suffered losses to Villarreal and Newcastle United, respectively. Arsenal were considered heavy favorites in both encounters but failed to make it past the initial stages. They also capitulated in leading positions during the Premier League title races of 2022-23 and 2023-24. Hence, Arsenal winning a trophy will need more than just execution on the pitch.

In the case that Arsenal were to win a trophy, they would need to shift the psychological barrier of performing in critical situations when expectations are at their peak. Klopp’s Liverpool team was able to succeed, as well as Sir Alex Ferguson’s United dynasty of the 90s, who faced the pain of not achieving anything prior to embarking on a journey of remarkable triumphs.

However, this list excludes Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, who, alongside child prodigies Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Son Heung-Min, were close to winning both the Premier League and Champions League but never did. Arsenal’s future remains uncertain – whether they take the Spurs route or the Liverpool path.

With players such as Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba, and Martin Ødegaard, it looks like this team will lift a trophy at some stage, but not until that happens, the Liverpool adage stands. First is, and second is nowhere.

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