Spain goalkeeper David Raya has said 14 demanding years playing in England have fully prepared him for Arsenal's challenging end to the season.
Arsenal once had a commanding lead at the top of the Premier League but are being chased down by Manchester City and, unlike City, Arsenal are alive in the Champions League.
They play at Atlético Madrid in Wednesday's semifinal first leg.
"I haven't just spent the last year preparing to compete for the Premier League and the Champions League; I've spent 14 years working and preparing for this," Raya, 30, told Universo Valdano.
"We know that Atlético are a great team; it's going to be a very tough match in Madrid. We have to show that Arsenal are here to fight for a place in the final."
Arsenal are three points clear of City, who have a game in hand. The north London club face a nervous finish to the season having not won the Premier League since 2004.
They were close to lifting the Premier League the past three seasons but finished second to Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively.
Raya joined Arsenal on loan in the summer of 2023 from Brentford and is on course to win the Premier League Golden Glove for a third straight campaign.
"Against Luton in my first season at Arsenal, I played the worst game of my career, and from then on I made some changes in my life and things just went from strength to strength," he said.
Raya said he has focused on his fitness and diet to be at the top of his game and the Spain international has kept 16 clean sheets in 34 appearances so far this season.
Raya reflected on his time in England during his interview, recalling how he left Spain to join Blackburn Rovers' youth sector in July 2012 when he was just 17.
"What happened at Blackburn [where he made his debut at the age of 19] was like starting all over again, and in Spain it would have been incredibly difficult for me to reach the level I'm at now," he said. "I've come to the conclusion that, if I hadn't gone to England at such a young age, I'd be working in the family business [jewellery] rather than playing football.
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"The sense of maturity and the lessons I've learned here -- not just professionally but personally, too -- are things I wouldn't have experienced in Spain. Perhaps I'd be a different person, or think differently, because the way I am is largely down to how my parents raised me, but also very much down to what I've learned during these 14 years abroad."
Raya did not join the Spain team until 2022.
An understudy to Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simón in the national team, Raya is looking forward to this summer's World Cup.
"After winning the European Championship, we all think back to the [Spain's triumphant] years 2008, 2010 and 2012," he said. "It's always on your mind. You have to dream big, because otherwise you won't achieve it, but you have to take it one step at a time."
