Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has told Sky Sports he is confident the Gunners can secure silverware soon despite their final opportunity in the 2024/25 campaign now hinging on the Champions League, with Real Madrid standing in their way.
Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to the FA Cup for the 14th time across the club’s history less than eight months after being appointed to the role, as well as two Community Shields in 2020 and 2023, but has fallen short in the search to add to the list of honours since.
The Gunners suffered defeat to Newcastle in the League Cup, with disappointment on penalties in the FA Cup to Manchester United sandwiched between the two semi-final legs against the Magpies.
However, despite failure in the cup competitions and a 12-point chasm separating his side and Premier League leaders Liverpool at the top of the table, Raya remains upbeat about the situation after insisting it is “only a matter of time” before success arrives.
“It is a great place to be,” the Spain goalkeeper Sky Sports. “This is a great club and the team is incredible. We are going in the right direction to achieve things, it is a matter of time.”
Europe’s elite competition, which no Arsenal side across their 139-year history has lifted, now marks their final chance this season.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is confident Arsenal can secure silverware in the near future
But to take one step further towards unknown territory for the Gunners, they will need to navigate their way past reigning champions and nine-time winners Real Madrid.
Raya continued: “Everybody wants to win the Champions League and everyone knows how hard it is.
“Last year I thought we did a really good campaign. We were so close to beating Bayer Munich to go into the semi-finals.
“We are going in the right direction. We have that experience now and not many players had played in the Champions League before. We look forward to it and accept the challenge.
“We have a big challenge ahead playing Real Madrid. It is the one you really wanted to play when you were young.”
Hailing from Palleja in north-east Spain, around 20 miles from Barcelona, Raya is aware of the magnitude surrounding his first outing against Los Blancos and has already been inundated with requests for tickets ahead of the two-legged tie.
I have had a lot of tickets [requests]. In Spain, there is always family that comes to the game.
The fixture marks a huge moment for not only the club but the player himself. Approaching the tie, Raya chose to reflect on his journey throughout the football pyramid from the fifth tier of English football on loan with Southport, to the biggest stage of them all with Arsenal.
His progress was not linear.
Before breaking through after Blackburn’s relegation to League One in 2017/18, Rovers academy graduate Raya faced adversity having been dropped to third choice when Paul Lambert arrived at the club – but insisted that moving to England on his own at the age of 16 prepared him for the turbulence of professional football.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta tells Sky Sports News reporter Gary Cotterill whether he would rather win the Premier League or the Champions League
“There were hard parts,” Raya added. “The year I made my debut with Blackburn, it was against Leeds. The following season I started as No 1.
“I was 19 years old as a first-team goalkeeper. Results didn’t go our way and after the international break in September, the gaffer [Gary Bowyer] pulled me and said ‘we need a change’.
“I didn’t perform badly but it was one of the decisions he had to make. From there, I didn’t play a league game for 18 months. That was one of the toughest parts of my career.
A look at the outrageous moment when David Raya outpaced James Ward-Prowse and then pulled off an audacious backheel
“I became third choice instead of second. That was one of the toughest parts of my journey.
“For no reason, it is part of football but you need to keep your mindset in the right way. It came in the season we got relegated. I played the last five games of the season got me playing the whole year in League One.
“It is not a steady process but I am very happy with the results.”
Speaking specifically about his stint with Southport in the National League, Raya revealed his admiration for his teammates who balanced their love for the game and their day-to-day lives.
“We were part-time [at Southport]. The team was training Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in the morning. I was still training at Blackburn too. During the week I was with them.
“It was something different that I have never experienced. The lads were combining football in the morning and working.
“We would play on Tuesday at 8pm in London, get to the north at 4am and they were waking up at 6am for work. It was nice to see what they do for the love of football.”
