Beth Mead reacts to Arsenal becoming Champions of Europe

Beth Mead stopped by the mixed zone after Arsenal’s 1-0 win in the Champions League Final on Saturday evening.

On her feelings…
A lot of emotions going around right now, incredibly proud of the team and what we’ve done today. For myself, tough, but very proud of what I have been able to create to help the team. The European journey has been incredible, there have been a lot of ups and downs within that and we showed so much character and won it. Now as a team, we have to do that throughout a full season. Super proud, we showed a lot of character and resilience in a lot of different matches in a lot of different ways, we deserve this moment as a team.

On not starting the game…
You’re always disappointed not to play, you push, you train hard, you work hard to try to get into the team. I have been at the club nearly nine years and want to be playing in these finals but I am experienced enough to know that sometimes you have to make a difference in different ways. I knew I could come onto the pitch with Stina and make a difference, that’s what we both did.

On how Renee made the players so relaxed coming into the final…
We have kept our heads down, we’ve enjoyed the moment and enjoyed the journey. We had moments we had to suffer today but we suffered and enjoyed those moments as well, sometimes you have to do that against such amazing teams like Barcelona. We deserved that in the end.

On preparing for the game without having had a game for a fortnight…
It was little bit different to have a two week build up, as a team we were incredible at, the players that knew they weren’t starting earlier in the week, we had to be Barcelona in the 11 a side training and make it super hard and we had to think about ways they could hurt us. That shows what an amazing team we are, we know in certain moments we know we need and we came into this final relaxed and knowing we had done everything in training for each other to make it a little bit easier today.

On what this moment means to her and her Player Tribune article about grieving her mother this week…
It was a timing thing, this felt like the right time to be able to speak out about different things. I was very open and honest in that interview and it relates to a lot of people and I hope it can help them as well. It is part of my journey, I know i am not perfect, I am not a perfect person and I am not a perfect player but I will always put my heart on my sleeve and try to be the best version that I can be.

On Frida Maanum’s performance…
She has showed such character, she had such a scare last year and she was able to keep fit and put out such a good performance and do what she always does on the pitch.

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