David Hytner was at the Emirates tonight, and here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Mikel Arteta speaks to Amazon Prime, and is asked whether he saw a 4-0 win coming. “No … it was a really tough match … we knew when it was 0-0 it was going to be really tough … when it was 1-0 they opened up a little bit … make it easier for us to find the spaces … very happy … a big performance … we deserved the points … a big team performance without big individual performances is very difficult … I am very happy … delighted [for Viktor Gyökeres] because he fully deserves it … outstanding … his demands on himself are really high … we value a lot of what he does for the team … hopefully it is the start of a beautiful sequence … to have different ways of scoring goals is very important … belief is crucial in sport … we have to maintain momentum … we can improve.”
Viktor Gyökeres, who slaked his nine-game scoring thirst tonight, speaks to Amazon Prime. “Feels amazing … it’s been a while … but we’ve been winning games … still a great couple of months … but as a striker it’s nice to score goals … it was great to score two … this win shows you where we are at … the first a perfect deflection! [laughs] … the chances will come … [my team-mates] are incredible … the spirit we have in the team is something else … it feels great of course … but we have to be on our toes … keep doing the right things … try to improve … there is always room for that.”
Gyökeres also says he’s spoken to new Sweden manager Graham Potter, and “it feels great to have him as coach of the national team.”
The Champions League table as it stands. Arsenal up to third, behind last season’s finalists, and flying.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSG | 3 | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | Inter Milan | 3 | 9 | 9 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 3 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | Man City | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Bayern Munich | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | Real Madrid | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | Barcelona | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 10 | Qarabag FK | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | PSV | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Marseille | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Club Brugge | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 15 | Sporting | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 | Liverpool | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Atletico Madrid | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| 19 | Chelsea | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 20 | Galatasaray | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| 21 | Atalanta | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| 22 | Napoli | 3 | -5 | 3 |
| 23 | Union Saint Gilloise | 3 | -6 | 3 |
| 24 | Juventus | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Bodo/Glimt | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | AE Pafos | 3 | -4 | 2 |
| 27 | Bayer Leverkusen | 3 | -5 | 2 |
| 28 | Monaco | 2 | -3 | 1 |
| 29 | Slavia Prague | 2 | -3 | 1 |
| 30 | Villarreal | 3 | -3 | 1 |
| 31 | Copenhagen | 3 | -4 | 1 |
| 32 | Olympiacos | 3 | -7 | 1 |
| 33 | FC Kairat | 3 | -8 | 1 |
| 34 | Benfica | 3 | -5 | 0 |
| 35 | Athletic Bilbao | 2 | -5 | 0 |
| 36 | Ajax | 2 | -6 | 0 |
Arsenal won ugly at Fulham last weekend; they won pretty tonight. Another two goals from set pieces, yes, but two were from open play, Gabriel Martinelli’s curler the evening’s highlight. Atop the Premier League, now flying in Europe, everything’s going their way right now. Though on that subject, the margins between success and failure are outrageously small in top-level sport, and Atleti will go away wondering how things might have panned out had Julián Alvarez’s fine long-range effort nestled in the top-right corner instead of hitting the bar … or if his speculative attempt to catch out David Raya on walkabout had bounced home. But a 4-0 rout is a 4-0 rout, and that’s a statement victory for Arsenal. Could this be the season this grand old club finally gets their hands on Old Big Ears? They’re not joint second favourites for nothing.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid
♩♬♭ Four-nil to the Ars-e-nal, four-nil to the Ars-e-nal … ♬ ♪ ♫
90 min +3: Nwaneri fancies getting on the scoresheet. He nearly dribbles through the middle, then curls a shot towards the bottom left that’s claimed by Oblak.
90 min +1: A state of mellow bliss descends on the Emirates. One or two pockets excepted, of course.
90 min: There will be three additional minutes.
89 min: Tell you what, though. There better be running hot water in the Atleti dressing room this evening, because if there isn’t, all bets will be off.
88 min: Atleti stroke it around, running down the clock. They just want to go home.
86 min: Baena scoops a cross in from a tight angle on the right. It loops over Raya but is stopped from dropping into the left-hand side of the net by Nwaneri’s clearing hook. Had the ball dropped into the goal, VAR would have surely taken a look at the cross, which might have curled out of play and back in before sailing over Raya’s head.
84 min: Gallagher is found in space on the right-hand edge of the Arsenal box. He aims for the top right, but Raya palms around the post. Then the whistle goes for Baena’s transgression earlier in the move. Absolutely nothing going right for Atleti now. Alvarez’s effort twanging off the crossbar at 0-0 seems an eternity ago.
83 min: Nothing comes of the corner.
82 min: Ruggeri advances down the left and wins a corner off Timber. But before it can be taken, Gyökeres and Timber are replaced by White and Merino. A huge reception for Gyökeres as he departs. A weight off the striker’s mind after breaking his nine-game scoreless run with a brace.
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81 min: No goal this time, as Hancko is bundled over in the box.
80 min: Gyökeres bustles down the left and wins a free kick. Rice to send it into the mixer.
79 min: The olés again. It’s party time in north London.
78 min: Almada has a dig from distance. Easy for Raya. The Atleti fire has pretty much been extinguished.
77 min: The home crowd start early with the olés. Any old excuse …
75 min: Le Normand is booked for taking out Gyökeres with a tackle from behind. “It occurs to me that Arteta’s Gunners aren’t a million miles away from the 2013-16 Atléti, which I tend to think of as ‘pure uncut Simeone’,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Even though they were built on the foundation of a rock-solid defense, they would routinely blow teams away. Once they got the opening goal, often from a set-piece, if the other side came on to them, they’d tear them to shreds.”
74 min: “I can only assume that Diego Simeone will get chummy with a vocal Arsenal fan right about now,” suggests Peter Oh. He’s currently staring at a spot exactly 1,000 yards ahead of him, so he’s not spoiling for a fight yet. But give it time.
73 min: Arsenal can put their feet up now, and make a triple change. Gabriel, Eze and Zubimendi make way for Mosquera, Norgaard and Nwaneri.
72 min: That’s four goals in 14 minutes. Atleti respond by replacing Simeone and Sørolth with Almada and Griezmann.
GOAL! Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid (Gyökeres 70)
Arsenal win a corner down the left. Rice loops it to the far post. Gabriel wins a header at the far post, sending the ball back across the face of goal. Gyökeres, racing in from the left, bundles home. Arsenal are rampant, but Atleti have fallen apart.
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69 min: The home fans dip into their songbook again. Classic section once more. ♩♬♭ Are you Tottenham in disguise? ♬ ♪ ♫
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Atlético Madrid (Gyökeres 67)
Make it three in 11! Martinelli is sent flying down the left. He crosses. Eze shoots. Blocked. The ball drops to Gyökeres, who tries to force the ball into the bottom right. It deflects off Hancko and into the bottom left. Scruffy as hell, but that’s broken his goal drought, so he won’t care one jot.
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66 min: Arsenal have really exploded into life here. They’d been arguably second best since the start of the second half, but suddenly woke from their slumber and look to have put Atleti away with two goals in eight minutes!
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Atlético Madrid (Martinelli 64)
Arsenal can score from set pieces, Arsenal can score from open play! Lewis-Skelly dribbles hard down the middle, drawing a few purple shirts before slipping a pass down the inside-left channel for Martinelli, who opens his body and steers a glorious first-time shot across Oblak and into the bottom-right corner. The Emirates erupts!
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63 min: Atletico make a triple change. Koke, Gonzalez and Gimenez are replaced by Naena, Ruggeri and Gallagher.
62 min: Simeone slips Llorente into space down the right. Llorente cuts a cross back for Hancko, who from 12 yards powers a header just wide of the top-right corner. Raya planted.
60 min: One corner leads to another, and that leads to nothing. Meanwhile the home crowd, who had become a little pensive before the goal, flick to the classic section of their songbook: ♩♬♭ One-nil to the Ars-e-nal, one-nil to the Ars-e-nal … ♬ ♪ ♫
58 min: That’s Arsenal’s ninth set-piece goal of the season. But Atleti nearly cancel it out immediately, Simeone scampering onto Alvarez’s pass down the inside-right and taking a shot from a tight angle that’s deflected out for a corner. The man making that defensive intervention? Gabriel, the main man at both ends right now.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Atlético Madrid (Gabriel 57)
Rice swings the free kick in from the left touchline. Gabriel times his run down the middle, through a crowd of players, and steers a header into the bottom left from six yards. The delivery was so good he couldn’t miss!
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56 min: Llorente flips Martinelli aggressively to the floor out on the left flank. Mikel Arteta not happy. But it’s just a free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Atleti area waiting for Rice to deliver, and …
54 min: Zubimendi swivels and flicks a pass down the inside-left channel for Gyökeres, who extends a leg in the hope of flipping the ball past Oblak. But the keeper throws a classic Peter Schmeichel shape and blocks. Fine play all round.
52 min: Up the other end, another penalty claim, as Koke nips in ahead of Lewis-Skelly down the right, feels a slight brush from behind, and goes down hard. The referee’s not falling for the grift.
51 min: Gyökeres wedges a cross in from the right. It hits the hand of Giménez, so a penalty claim is made. But the defender was standing right next to the striker, with his arms and hands tucked into his belly, and he might have been outside the box anyway. So no.
50 min: A free kick for Atleti out on the right. Alvarez whips it low to the near post, where Hancko hacks wide right. A couple of moments of danger in quick succession that have quietened the home crowd.
Alvarez hits the bar
49 min: Alvarez advances down the inside-left channel and curls a glorious effort towards the top right. Raya is beaten all ends up, but the ball pings off the top of the bar and away. A couple of inches lower, and that was one for the showreel.
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47 min: Timber jinks down the right and wins a corner. It’s a fine run, past three defenders. Le Normand one man too many. Sørloth heads Saka’s corner clear.
46 min: Alvarez dribbles into the Arsenal box from the right, and thinks about shooting. He doesn’t, though, and is eventually crowded out. For a second there, an opportunity presented itself for the striker.
Atleti get the second half started. No changes.
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Half-time entertainment. Your Champions League round-up, folks, to be updated as and when. Already containing some hot-off-the-press news of a good evening for Marcus Rashford.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Atlético Madrid
Arsenal have hit the bar; Atleti have missed an open goal. Neither were exactly gilt-edged chances. Both teams have been battling hard, no quarter given, which augurs well for some second-half entertainment, one way or another.
45 min +1: Zubamendi crosses from the right. Martinelli eyebrows over the bar from ten yards.
45 min: Alvarez sends the resulting free kick sailing harmlessly wide right. There will be one minute of additional time.
44 min: Rice clips Le Normand from behind as the Atleti defender brings down a high ball 30 yards from the Arsenal goal. Having recently clattered Llorente further upfield, he’s slightly fortunate not to go into the book. Another one may test the referee’s patience.
42 min: A slight sense of frustration in the crowd now, with Arsenal no longer as dominant as they were during the early exchanges.
40 min: Eze and Rice busy themselves down the left flank but Atleti hold their shape and the move peters out.
38 min: Zubimendi is booked for his third cynical nibble from behind in as many minutes. That means he’ll be suspended for Arsenal’s next Champions League fixture at Slavia Prague.
Martinelli goal disallowed
36 min: Saka dribbles into the box from the right. He gets past Giménez with ease and fires a low cross into the six-yard box. Martinelli turns home at the far post, but he’s gone way too early and is clearly offside. Up goes the flag.
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35 min: Saka takes the resulting free kick. He pulls it back for Zubimendi, who floats a chip into the box. It’s easily cleared. An intricate training-ground move that didn’t come off.
33 min: Gyökeres steams down the right, knocks the ball past Giménez, then runs slap-bang into him. A cynical block that earns the Atleti player the first booking of the game.
31 min: The corner’s a waste of everyone’s time.
30 min: Gyökeres goes over in the Atleti box, claiming to have been wrestled to the floor by Gimenez. VAR has a look at a potential penalty, but there’s nothing in it, and nothing doing. Arsenal have forced a corner, though, which Saka will now send in.
28 min: Alvarez takes down a ball in the centre circle, then spins and powers around Gabriel. He flies all the way to the edge of the Arsenal box, by which time Gabriel has recovered some ground and Saliba has come over to help. Alvarez can’t get a shot away in time, and the chance is gone. Arsenal’s centre-back pairing did well to deal with that situation.
26 min: Timber has a whack from distance. Less whack, more dribble. Easy for Oblak.
25 min: Raya comes out of his box on the Atleti right, in the hope of ushering a misplaced Atleti pass out for a goal kick. But there’s not enough pace on the ball, and Simeone nips in to steal it off him. Raya does enough to block the ball out for a throw, but as he’s trotting back, Simeone takes a quick throw to Alvarez, who steers a shot from the right touchline towards the unguarded goal. Arsenal – and particularly Raya – are extremely fortunate that the ball bounces wide left. Nearly a calamitous error by Raya.
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23 min: Saka robs Barrios on the halfway line and for a second the break looks on. But Saka is strangely slow to take off, and Barrios comes back at him to nick the ball away.
22 min: Atleti ping it around at high speed, avoiding the Arsenal press but going nowhere in particular. Both teams have found their feet and are well in this game now.
20 min: Oblak is fine to continue.
19 min: Eze, dropping deep, releases Saka down the inside-right channel with a forensic pass. Saka enters the box and tries to flip a shot over Oblak, but the keeper spreads well to block. Oblak takes a knock on the knee for his trouble. Play stops while he gets checked over.
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17 min: Arsenal have enjoyed 55 percent of possession so far. Their fans sound content: an excited buzz whenever Saka gets the ball, appreciative/supportive applause when Gyökeres – nine games without a goal for club and country – presses enthusiastically.
15 min: Timber and Saka combine crisply down the right. The latter’s shot is blocked. Rice and Eze shuttle the ball left for Lewis-Skelly, who whistles a low drive across the face of goal and wide right. The Atleti defence at sixes and sevens for a moment.
13 min: Llorente dribbles carefully down the right before finally sending in a cross that’s deflected up and into the arms of Raya.
11 min: Hancko tries to release Sorloth down the left but Saliba glides across to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Arsenal looking confident at both ends of the park.
9 min: Saka skins Hancko down the right and dinks a cross into the middle. It’s half cleared, but the in-rushing Gabriel can’t connect properly with a shot from the edge of the D and the visitors can clear their lines. It’s been a fun opening.
7 min: … but then Sørloth breaks into space down the middle. As he prepares to release Simeone down the inside-right channel, Lewis-Skelly cynically checks the manager’s son. That’s a foul in the professional style, and Lewis-Skelly really should go into the book – as Simeone Sr., leaping around on the touchline, suggests. But the referee’s keeping his cards in his pocket for now. Both teams have got away with one.
6 min: It’s been a really bright start by Arsenal. Atleti are struggling to get out of their final third.
Eze hits the bar
5 min: Eze takes a speculative shot from 25 yards. The ball twangs off Hancko and sails on an absurd parabola over Oblak, who is stranded. The ball pings off the crossbar instead of nestling into the top left. It drops to Rice, who should slot the rebound but balloons it over the bar.
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3 min: Timber chases after a pass down the inside-right channel but can’t keep the ball in play before crossing. But Arsenal are soon coming back at Atleti, Timber rolling the ball down the same channel in the hope of releasing Saka. The Arsenal men aren’t on the same wavelength and that’s another goal kick.
2 min: Arsenal start the evening as they presumably intend to go on, stroking the ball around patiently. Koke gets fed up and clips Zubimendi on the shin, and probably should go into the book, but it’s early and you know how referees roll. A couple of statements of intent there, perhaps.
Arsenal get the ball rolling. Noise bounces around the Emirates.
The teams are out! Arsenal wear their storied red shirts with white sleeves, forcing Atlético out of their own famous mattress-inspired tops. The visitors instead sport second-choice purple with [MBM hack unfolds marketing release, adjusts pince-nez, performs brief double-take] “thunder-and-lightning-inspired side panels … embodying the bold and rebellious attitude of Atlético Madrid.” Well then. We’ll be off in a minute or two.
There’s already been one skirmish between the two clubs. Last night Atleti trained at the Emirates, as per Uefa regulations, but had to wait until they returned to their hotel for their post-exercise ablutions, on account of there being no hot water in the stadium dressing rooms. Spanish paper Marca reported that Atleti were “angry”, but while it’s delicious to imagine the hosts brazenly running plays from the John Beck book of dressing-room pranks just to push Diego Simeone’s buttons, Arsenal were in fact embarrassed and later officially apologised to their guests for the inconvenience.
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Atleti striker Julián Alvarez speaks to Amazon. “We know they are a great team … it will be a very difficult game … but we will do whatever we can to win the game … it was great to hear [Pep Guardiola recently praise him] … but now I’m with another great coach [in Diego Simeone] … you are always learning with the best managers in the world … as a player as well as a person.”
Mikel Arteta – relaxed, happy, things going swimmingly – speaks to Amazon Prime. “Consistency and performance and results [make me happy] … we have a big one tonight … we need some freshness … [Diego Simeone] is a super-competitive manager … the team have been at the top in Europe for many years … we will try our best … today’s game will have a lot of micro-games within the game … we will have to deal with a lot of different situations … make sure we can deal with that … we know what we are doing but there are still things we have to improve as a team and individually … today is a beautiful game we have to play.”
♩♬♭ One-nil to the Ars-e-nal, one-nil to the Ars-e-nal … ♬ ♪ ♫ Mikel Arteta’s side have yet to concede in Europe, and have only shipped three goals so far in the Premier League. It’s bringing back memories of heady days under the legendary George Graham, and Arsenal’s current boss isn’t at all unsettled by the comparison. David Hytner reports.
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Arsenal make two changes to the XI that started the 1-0 win at Fulham on Saturday evening. One at the back, one up front. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Martinelli come in for Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard, both of whom drop to the bench.
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The teams
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Merino, Calafiori.
Atlético Madrid: Oblak, Le Normand, Gimenez, Hancko, Llorente, Koke, Barrios, Gonzalez, Simeone, Alvarez, Sorloth.
Subs: Musso, Ruggeri, Gallagher, Griezmann, Baena, Almada, Martin, Lenglet, Molina, Pubill, Galan, Raspadori.
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy).
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Preamble
Two of the biggest clubs never to have won the European Cup meet tonight in north London. Could this be the year that a strange wrong is righted? Very possibly: Arsenal are currently joint second favourites to win this edition of the Champions League, while Atlético Madrid are usually there or thereabouts. So this qualifies as a proper heavyweight clash.
The clubs have only met once before, in the Europa League semi-finals in 2018. Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa did for Arsenal as Atleti won the tie 2-1 on aggregate, en route to winning the trophy. So that’s in the Colchoneros’ favour. On the other hand, Arsenal have won six in a row against Spanish teams, losing just one of their last 14 home games against visitors from Spain, while Atleti have won just one of their last nine against English sides. So all of that very much favours the Gunners.
But both teams will fancy it. Arsenal are on a five-game winning run, sitting pretty atop the Premier League, while Atleti haven’t tasted defeat since losing 3-2 at Liverpool last month, an unbeaten run that’s taken in a 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and a 5-2 thumping of crosstown rivals Real Madrid. It’s a proper heavyweight clash all right. It kicks off at 8pm UK time. It’s on!
