Arsenal's defining moment: Gunners' Champions League destiny just 90 minutes away

Arsenal are one game away.

Win at Tottenham on Thursday and it is done, they will be back in the Champions League for the first time since 2017.

The promised land is within touching distance.

It looked like they had blown their big chance when they sunk to three successive defeats in April, but a fabulous run of four straight wins has revitalised a season that seemed on the verge of collapse.

Mikel Arteta’s side went into their game with Leeds on Sunday knowing victory would move them four points clear of Tottenham ahead of this week's crucial North London Derby.

And thanks to an early Eddie Nketiah double they got exactly that, even though they did have to survive a nervy ending after Diego Llorente's second-half strike for the 10-man visitors.

“I have experienced games like that in this league,” Arteta said after the win. “I have experienced it where things can change very quickly. But the way that we started, it was phenomenal. It was electric, really convincing.

“We were really going for it, forward, no hesitation at all and showing quality. We scored two goals, they then go to 10 men and after that, you have to play a different game. 

“I think we did our things right but we didn't score the third goal and that was the killer. Then out of nothing, we concede a corner and concede from there and after that we suffered and some nerves have to handled.”

Arsenal just about handled those nerves during some frantic final moments at the Emirates Stadium, but if they thought those were tense, wait until Thursday’s game comes around.

Given how they started the season, however, it is remarkable to think of the position Arteta’s side are now in.

There was talk of a relegation battle when they began the campaign with three straight defeats and went into the first international break bottom of the Premier League without having even scored a goal.

But since then, they have won 21 of their 31 league games and are now just 90 minutes from destiny. 

Champions League football is just one game away and the fact that they could get the job done at Tottenham of all places will just add to the sense of drama this week.

Thursday night’s derby is quite simply the biggest game Arsenal have played in years.

“We want to prepare and go for that match like we always do,” Arteta said.  “With the same enthusiasm, but knowing obviously that this can be a defining moment.

“That’s an extra level of motivation and another layer for us to really go for it. I can’t wait to play that game.”

No-one will be more aware than Arteta of just what Champions League football will mean to Arsenal.

As a player, he regularly competed in Europe’s elite club competition for the Gunners, but those days now feel like a distant memory in north London.

So to get Arsenal back dining at the top table of European football as a manager will be a huge achievement for the Spaniard after such a disappointing few years for the club.

Arteta has constantly told fans to "trust the process" since he replaced Unai Emery, and that process would get a monumental shot in the arm should Champions League football return.

It would put Arsenal in a much stronger position when it comes to fending off interest in star players, with contract talks looming with Bukayo Saka this summer, for example. 

It will be far easier to convince the England star that he could fulfil his ambitions at Arsenal should they be in the Champions League.

The financial boost would also be huge and would allow the Gunners to be much more aggressive in the transfer market ahead of next season.

“We don't have to explain the importance of the match,” Arteta said, when looking ahead to Thursday night’s clash at Tottenham. “Everybody is aware of that. 

“We have the opportunity now against them to do it and all our mood and our energy is going to be directed in that way. 

“Let's go for it. It is what was done the whole season.”

Arsenal have a history of securing historic triumphs at the home of their bitter rivals. They won the first division title at White Hart Lane in 1971 and they repeated the trick in 2004 when Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles sealed their historic Premier League crown.

The title may not be on the line this time around, but it is impossible to play down the significance of this young Arsenal side finally ending the club’s five-year absence from the Champions League.

Reclaiming a place amongst Europe’s elite has felt a million miles away at times in recent years, but now it is just 90 minutes away.

Arsenal’s day of destiny awaits.