Arsenal – Atlético Madrid: Bukayo Books the Ticket to Budapest (1-0)

The pragmatic portion of the Champions League semi-final pitted together a traditional defensive bastion with a club reborn in that image. There would be a sprinkling of Hale End magic from Mikel Arteta to appeal to the twelfth man on the evening, but the foundation for his side’s success remained a resolute rearguard against an opponent without adequate answers.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

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Atlético Madrid have left it all on the line in this continental competition to cap off this campaign. They dropped out of the LaLiga title race, falling far behind the big two in Spanish football, but they have now virtually secured Champions League qualification with Villarreal. Real Sociedad spoiled the last bow for Antoine Griezmann with penalty shootout success in the Copa del Rey final, and the team are trying to return to Europe’s showcase event for the first time in the Riyadh Air Metropolitano era.

Arsenal have enjoyed a massive week of football. They held their opponents to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of this semi-final on their own turf before battering Fulham with a furious first half display that pulled them six points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League title race. A 3-3 draw for their fellow contenders on Monday evening has lifted the mood in the red half of North London, and belief is building once more that the club can end the six-year wait for major honors with serious substance.

After an impressive 3-0 triumph on the weekend, Mikel Arteta elected to stick with the same starting eleven. Riccardo Calafiori continued as a left back in place of Piero Hincapié, and Leandro Trossard took the place of Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing. Although Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard were fit, Eberechi Eze featured as the ten behind Viktor Gyökeres. But the biggest call involved the midfield unit as Myles Lewis-Skelly stayed next to Declan Rice instead of Martín Zubimendi.

For a 2-0 victory over Valencia, Diego Simeone switched all eleven members of the lineup he used on Wednesday. In this fixture, he moved Marc Pubill to right back, asking Robin Le Normand to partner with David Hancko in central defense. Giuliano Simeone suffered a hip collision a week ago, but he returned to the right of a midfield with Marcos Llorente, Koke and Ademola Lookman. Julián Alvarez picked up a minor ankle knock in the first leg, but he was fit to feature upfront with Griezmann.

Advantage Arsenal

A dilemma at right back was present for Arteta before kick-off. White has traditionally been the best supporting act for Saka with his ball distribution, overlapping and connectivity with the winger to help him move into more central areas close to goal. His fitness has been problematic, and positional problems off the ball have seen sides target his flank, but the manager trusted him to make an impact.

41^st minute: offensive sequence from Arsenal. Rice switched the ball to White, who flicked a header into Saka. The winger calmly collects possession, laying it off to the fullback, who has moved inside. He breaks through the tackle of Lookman, and Eze can engage on the top of the box. Eze and White bounced the ball off each other, and Mattéo Ruggeri stretched on the recovery to stop a through ball.

The other momentum shifter for Arsenal was their striker. Atlético attempted not to be so standoffish as they were in the first half of the first leg last week. But when spaces are open to attack down the channels, Gyökeres gets going, and the central defenders were not assertive enough to tie him down.

Close to half time, a major twist in the tale occurred. Saliba smacked the ball down the right channel for Gyökeres to chase, and he lured Jan Oblak out of his goal. The striker sent a hopeful delivery to the far post rather than trying to catch the goalkeeper off his line, and he found Trossard. Blue shirts streamed back to block any effort, but Simeone’s outstretched leg left the winger’s strike to ricochet towards the target. Though Oblak parried, Saka smartly peeled off Le Normand to bury the rebound.

Griezmann grows into the battle

But Atlético were far from out of this fixture. Llorente or Simeone can stretch their legs to go beyond backlines into space, and twice the pair got the better of Calafiori with runs on his inside shoulder in the first half to break into the final third. The biggest opening of all in such circumstances saw Koke release Simeone at the start of the second half, and a misplaced Saliba header allow the midfielder to go around David Raya. However, Gabriel got back to unbalance the player and disarmed the threat.

The second source of problems for Arteta’s men was the constructive presence of the central forwards. Across the two legs, Griezmann displayed his intelligence with an innate knack to get free from Gabriel, find space between the lines and connect the attacks on the right side of the formation.

56^th minute: offensive sequence from Atlético Madrid: Griezmann dropped deep on the edges of the formation around Eze, and Alvarez helped shift the ball towards the right flank. Griezmann then moves up-tempo, drifts into the pocket off Gabriel as Simeone slides higher, and the shooting angle opens for the attacker to try to target Raya’s goal, forcing the goalkeeper to dive low and parry.

Fortunately for Arsenal, their opponents were not the most efficient in the final third. Left leaning attacks through Lookman were not as fruitful as usual, and Arsenal could often scramble back into position from wide attacks on the right side of the pitch to put out fires and frustrate Simeone’s side.

Arsenal achieve another safe shutout

For the final half hour, Simeone drastically altered the composition of his side. A triple substitution in the 57^th minute saw Alexander Sørloth shift upfront ahead of Griezmann and Alvarez, while Nahuel Molina moved to right midfield ahead of Llorente as Simeone and Le Normand came off the field. He subsequently sent on Thiago Almada and Álex Baena to take the place of Alvarez and Griezmann.

Near the hour mark, Arteta replied with a triple substitution of his own. Ødegaard swapped in for Eze as the attacking midfielder, Calafiori came off for Hincapié at left back, and Saka stepped aside for Noni Madueke to fill in as the right winger. In the 74^th minute, Zubimendi switched in for Lewis-Skelly, and Arteta was hoping that the fresh legs could take the defensive structure over the line.

69^th minute: offensive transition for Arsenal. Hincapié had pushed into an advanced, inverted position to be fed a through ball from Trossard, and he pressed onwards to sustain pressure after a turnover. Ødegaard and Trossard collapsed on Koke when Almada laid off a pass to the captain, then Trossard turned to Llorente, and Hincapié unsettled Molina. The substitute sent the ball infield, and White was able to intercept. However, he went for a wayward shot rather than releasing Madueke in the channel.

A more rugged on-ball presence than Calafiori, Hincapié helped lock down the left defensively. The reinforcements rallied impressively, and the presence of the club captain as a commander on the field allowed Arteta’s instructions to translate onto the pitch. More direct balls to a bigger target in Sørloth should have stressed the backline, but the hosts remained proactive, giving away little near their box.

This final phase of the game was eased through the relentless work of Gyökeres. He has frequently struggled as an outlet for Arsenal because of his lack of stability in aerial duels or 1 v 1 situations with Premier League battle hardened defenders. However, he was often able to offer a reference point for the hosts on this occasion, and better finishing could have taken the tie out of sight before full time.

Takeaways

Arsenal are entitled to enjoy this moment in their journey under Arteta. Having never failed to reach the Champions League quarterfinals under his management, they have now reached the final for the second time in their history and the first time in the Emirates era. Fittingly, a clean sheet (their ninth in 14 continental clashes this campaign) sealed the deal for the side with the strongest defense in Europe, and the successful semifinalists in the other bracket of the knockouts shall be a true test of their steel.

Atlético Madrid must accept that the campaign is effectively over. Across the two legs, they showed the quality and experience in the spine of their side to improvise solutions on the ball by connecting with their two central forwards. However, against an elite defensive unit, more quality was required to make the most of the openings that the team could create in the tie. But Simeone still takes pride in the continual competitiveness of his club, and aspirations have been renewed for the next campaign.

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