Anyway, thanks all for your company - bye!
So there we go. Arsenal missed three out of four penalties, but played well enough here and there, with Emile Smith Rowe scoring a belter. They now meet PSG on Thursday, while Atletico play them on Monday.
Atletico beat Arsenal 3-1 on penalties
Adan whacks home! What a shoot-out he had!
Atletico 2-1 Arsenal
Nketiah runs up hard and opens his body, but can’t find the corner. Adan saves.
Atletico 2-1 Arsenal
Mollejo slots into the corner as Cech goes the wrong way.
Atletico 1-1 Arsenal
Maitland-Niles lifts a panenka down the middle.
Atletico 1-0 Arsenal
This is nearing Man United-Madrid levels! Cech saves!
Atletico 1-0 Arsenal
Oh dear. Willock runs around it, showing it’s going bottom right, and Adan saves pretty easily.
Atletico 1-0 Arsenal
Rodri goes down the middle as Cech dives to his left.
Atletico 0-0 Arsenal
Great save! Mkhitaryan goes bottom left, but doesn’t get it close enough to the corner and Adan saves!
Atletico 0-0 Arsenal
Correa hits it well but his low outswinger cracks the base of the post!
Here we go! Correa to start....
Both sides will be pretty happy with that, showing quality in patches and working pretty hard too. Let’s see what happens next...
Full-time: Atlético de Madrid 1-1 Arsenal
Penalties it is!
94 min On the touchline, Emery is exhorting Nketiah and Lucas to keep putting it in, but we’re nearly done. I wonder which players Arsenal will keep in London - Nelson really needs to play now, likewise Maitland-Niles, but both might be good enough to stay. Smith Rowe might need a loan because when might he get a game?
92 min Osei-Tutu finds Mkhitaryan on the right, but he dithers and is robbed. Ctrl C, Ctrl V.
90 min There’ll be four additional minutes.
90 min Simeone is the sweatiest man in the ground. He’s put in a proper shift up and down that touchline.
89 min Adan is invited to get on with taking a goalkick - is he really playing for penalties? Anyway, they’re imminent.
88 min It’s Arsenal pushing for the win here; stand by for sucker-punch break.
86 min Perez clips the corner to the back of the box, where Mavropanos arrived to head over.
85 min Perez finds space down the left and takes the ball of Nketiah who makes for the middle. His cross, though, is driven into shins; he responds robustly when chastised for such.
84 min I should note at this point, just before Arsenal concede a spawny winner, that if it’s level at full-time, we get a shoot-out.
82 min But here come Arsenal, Nketiah making a good run in behind to create an angle for Osei-Tutu’s pass. He’s still running away from goal as he collects it though, so when he turns into the shot, he can’t get enough power to trouble Adan.
81 min Chambers fouls someone, we’re not told whom and I’m afraid my knowledge of Atletico youth teamers is sketchy. He’s booked.
80 min So what would constitute a good season for Arsenal? I guess they’ll want to finish in the top four, or at least the board will, but that seems unlikely looking at it - they still look sixth-best of the six sides who’ll be competing. For the fans, my guess is they’ll be happy with improvement and hope.
78 min There’s not much going on here - it’s a real Mkhitaryan kind of game.
76 min I think Willock replaced Guendouzi, and he finds Maitland-Niles on the left, whose pass outside the full-back is too strong for an irate Kolasinac.
74 min There are seven changes: off go Gameiro, Juanfran, Montero, Moya, Partey and I don’t know who else. Guendouzi also departs, but we’re not told or shown who replaces him.
73 min Oh goody goody gumdrops: here come Atleti’s changes. They are numerous.
71 min Partey catches Guendouzi in possession. A free-kick is given against him, but as Andrews points out, he’s realised that yerman dithers in possession and is now getting “in and around” him whenever he can.
70 min Atletico are back in charge without threatening.
69 min Finally it’s happened to me right in front of my face, my feelings can’t describe it . Excuse me.
We've just made 8️⃣ changes...
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) July 26, 2018
🔛 Chambers, Lucas, Maitland-Niles, Mkhitaryan, Nketiah, Osei-Tutu, Mavropanos, Sokratis
↩️ Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Ramsey, Nelson, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang, Lacazette
🔴 1-1 🔵 (65)#ICC2018 pic.twitter.com/TVxaFVU3ls
68 min The game has yet to settle.
66 min Nketiah is also on - good of them to let us know. He seems to have the knack, so I’m looking forward to seeing him. It actually turns out that only Kolasinac remains from the starting XI, but we’ve not yet been informed who, exactly, has come on
64 min Pinchi on, Joaquin off. That’s far more wieldy.
Updated
63 min Er, here we go. Chambers, Lucas, Osei-Tutu, Mkhitaryan and on; Smith Rowe, Nelson, Holding, and Ramsey off.
62 min Ch ch changes. Oh, not quite yet. But they’re coming - Ramsey has given Cech the armband and everything.
60 min Atletico have roused themselves.
58 min What is going on! First, Guendouzi is caught in possession again, this time by Gameiro, who moves along the the line. But he runs out of position, only for Ramsey, close to his own goal, to run towards it with the ball seeking to clear. Again, Gameiro robs him, and his cross arrives at Rodrigo, who shoots high under pressure.
57 min This has been much better from Arsenal, and a good sign that Emery knows how to wind it up. Too often in the late Wengera, if they started badly, they carried on badly.
55 min Smith Rowe’s corner is low to the near post, but Montero kicks it away.
54 min Nice from Guenoduzi, zoning through midfield to find Aubameyang, whose shot is deflected wide.
52 min We’ve seen more of Kolasinac in the last few minutes than in the entirety of the first half, and he barrels down the left then slings over a cross. He seems like one of those players who can only kick the ball as hard as he can, so Lacazette is forced to stretch to divert it back into the middle - he does it really well - but there’s no one on-hand to profit.
51 min Atletico win a free-kick down the left and Correa curls it in dangerously ... everyone sort of lets it go in the hope that nothing bad will happen, and it doesn’t.
49 min Arsenal have come out with a bit more intensity - they had 60-odd percent possession but most of it ineffective. Anyway, Kolasinac finds Ramsey, who takes a stride and lashes a drag just wide.
GOAL! Atlético de Madrid 1-1 Arsenal (Smith Rowe 47)
This very nice! Smith Rowe, who’s shown lovely enterprise thus far, collects the ball off Aubameyang at inside-left, glides past Partey, across Montero, and as it runs away from him, slides into a rising, curling drive that rushes part Adan. Brilliant! 17!
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46 min Both sides change keeper: Antonio Adan replaces Oblak, and Petr Cech replaces Leno.
Anyway, join me in 10 for some substitutions and the second half.
Arsenal have played ok here - the 17-year-old Smith Rowe and Nelson, in particular, have had their moments, as has Ramsey. But they’ve not taken their chances and were shown up at the back, text that ought really to be on my clipboard.
Updated
Half-time: Atlético de Madrid 1-0 Arsenal
Who could possibly have guessed.
45+1 min Ramsey screeches down the right and welts over a decent cross for Aubameyang, who’s not sure it’s reaching him so doesn’t do anything until it clears the defender in the road, by which time it’s too late to attempt the necessary volley.
45 min There shall be one added minute.
45 min Bellerin and Nelson combine to win a corner which Smith Rowe takes, picking out Holding in the middle. But the angle is tricky and he can’t rotate his body to impart power, so his header drifts wide.
43 min So far so Arsenal, so far so Atletico.
GOAL! Atlético de Madrid 1-0 Arsenal (Vietto 41)
Again Atletico attack down the right, a turn from Correa accounting for Holding for too easily and allowing him to race along the line before whacking a cross that Vietto falls to loop-glance home.
Updated
39 min Here come Arsenal again, Smith Rowe dashing towards the box, feeding Lacazette inside him and dashing around him to take a defender away. So Lacazette drives low and hard ... Oblak blocks ... and Nelson is on the rebound ... but inside the box, against a Simeone team, he thinks he’s getting time to tap home. He is not, and a challenge from Moya sees the ball go wide.
36 min Nice give-and-go between Smith Rowe and Lacazette, but Rodrigo runs across the back of the former; he goes down and the crowd are irate when no free-kick follows.
34 min Watching Lacazette last season, he looked a much better and more complete player than I thought he was, but I worry about his lack of pace. On the other hand, if Aubameyang scores his usual tally of goals, there’ll be less pressure on him to do that and more freedom just to play.
32 min Lovely from Arsenal, Guedoouzi into Ramsey, who turns a lovely pass around the corner which puts Lacazette in! He stretches into the box on its right-hand side, but Oblak narrows the angle, and where he might feint and chip, he forces and forces, allowing the keeper to block well but easily
31 min Atletico go down the right again and another cross is headed clear ... to Vietto who wellies over.
29 min But this is nice, Correa flipping a nice pass over and out to Juanfran, who does well to get around it to cut back a return. Correa, though, can’t direct his shot, picking out Holding’s ducking bonce, but the ball was going wide in any event.
29 min I take it back. A quieter period.
27 min Atletico have improved these last few minutes, so the final third of this half might be an interesting test for Arsenal.
25 min Joaquin finds Partey, who’s falling but nonetheless decides to leather a fearsome shot that flies high and wide.
24 min Arsenal are the better side at the moment, but then Rodrigo clips a clever ball over the top between Kolasinac and Holding - Andrews notes that his shoulders were too open - but it’s got just too much on it for Gamerio to reach.
21 min Aubemeyang is roving a bit, and coming back when Arsenal don’t have the ball. I wonder if, in the end, there’ll be room for him and Lacazette, but they’d be hard to defend if the balance could be found. Anyway, holding wins the ball well and feeds Ramsey, who skates down the left and finds Lacazette inside the box. Initially, he’s held up, but then recovers possession by the by-line with a clever roll and twist, allowing him to advance towards goal. He does his best to look at the far post, but when he clouts towards the near, Oblak is on hand to beat away.
18 min We’ve not seen much from Ramsey thus far, but this is a huge season for him. Someone needs to decide what kind of player he’s going to be, and whether he’s good enough to build around, because his best qualities - arriving in the box late, performing the unexpected - need to be facilitated.
18 min I think the players are a bit intimidated by the enormity of the occasion and illustriousness of the competition.
16 min
July 2018: ‘I like that Guendouzi is confident enough to shoot from 35 yards!’
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) July 26, 2018
November 2018: ‘I wish Guendouzi would stop whacking the ball over the bar from 35 yards!’
15 min Guendouzi waits for a ball to drop, so Correa barges through him, conceding a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Aubameyang weighs it up, then slams into the wall and Atletico work clear.
Updated
14 min I wonder if Arsenal might try a diamond at some point. They don’t have wingers in the squad anyway, and that’d allow them to play Lacazette, Aubameyang and Ozil in their positions, though it’d ask a lot of the full-backs.
13 min Arsenal win a corner down the right, nicely cut across by Smith Rowe to pick out Aubameyang on the left of the box. The marking is such that he has time to watch the ball drop, but he drags his volley wide.
11 min The ball breaks for Guendouzi in midfield, 40 yards from goal, so he strides into a shot which flies everywhere but the goal - by strange coincidence, also the name of my favourite crossover tribute band.
9 min Our commentators note that this season’s Champions League final is at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano and wonder if, finally, Atletico will win the trophy. Surely it’d be funnier if they, like Roma in 1984 and Bayern in 2012, lost that final in humiliating, heart-breaking fashion? Has anyone won the European Cup at home, apart from Madrid in 1957?
7 min Already, Nelson is imposing himself, running on the, er, diag off the right and exchanging passes with Lacazette, but the return flick has a bit too much on it and the ball goes behind.
5 min Lovely from Nelson, who strikes me as one of the players, like Delealli, who will forever known by firstname and surname. Anyway, he gathers possession on the right and espying space drives past Partey on the outside but towards goal, skips past Montero too, and from the line clips over a cross. By the time it arrives at Aubameyang, there are plenty of men between him and goal so the move comes to nothing, but that was very nicely done.
3 min Ramsey gets the ball wide to Aubameyang, and the crowd become excited. He shimmies one way then the other, then gives it simple and Arsenal move over to the other side, before the attack breaks down.
2 min Atletico are moving the ball pretty quickly, Juanfran lifting forward to Rodrigo, their new signing. Eventually, Guendouzi gets across to cover, and when it goes forward again, Gameiro is caught offside.
1 min Good news: Keith Andrews is co-commentating.
1 min Off we go!
Hands are slapped, captains embrace, and photos are taken. It’s very moving.
Here come the teams...
Unai Emery is looking forward to the game. He’s looking forward to his team showing how they’ve improved and what they’ve been working on in training.
This is quite strange now. We learn about the “uniquely competitive nature of this International Champions Club ... a hugely ambitious project in its scale”. Er, ok mate.
The ground is filling up, marginally, and we are basically watching a tourist film about Singapore. It looks nice.
Updated
I’ve just seen that Spurs won 4-1 last night, with both Llorente and Moura scoring braces. Imagine how badly Roma must’ve defended!
Like how back in the day, and still in the lower leagues, items of each player’s gear were sponsored by local businesses and such, what if different people can design bespoke features on players’ kits? Imagine how much fun Hector Bellerin could have with that, or whoever paid to decorate Mustafi with images of Baresi, Beckenbauer and Desailly.
Is this going to be a regular feature? It could get very funny.
That shirt back design 🔥
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) July 26, 2018
We ❤️ this from local artist, Mark Ong 👏#ICC2018 pic.twitter.com/AaecMrwwQq
Matteo Guendouzi, Arsenal’s new signing from Lorient, is also one on whom to keep an eye. It’s a fair while since they’ve had a decent defensive midfielder - since Santi Car-Zola got injured, at least - and he’s got a chance now to try and establish himself in that position, at least until Lucas Torreira is ready. Of course, the pair could play together, which would allow Ramsey to do what he wants, rather like Frank Lampard did for Chelsea.
It’ll be interesting to see how Reiss Nelson gets on today. He looks and is said to be a talent, the problem being that the standard of flair player is so high, it’s rare to see a young one come through at the top end of things. There are roles in which kids can be hidden, but bloke responsible for performing cool stuff is not one.
So, though Unai Emery has said nothing public on the subject, it looks like Leno will be first choice in net when the season starts, and not Cech. That seems fair enough to me - well, Cech is well past his best, and though we can be far from certain that Leno is any better, that should probably be investigated. Otherwise Ramsey, who’d like to captain Arsenal, will captain Arsenal - we can probably assume that he’s staying.
Teams! Here we go!
Atlético de Madrid (a what you looking at 4-4-2): Oblak; Juanfran, Montero, Moya, Joaquin; Rodrigo, Olabe, Partey, Correa; Gameiro y Vietto.
“The” Arsenal (a n-n-n-n-nothing 4-3-3): Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac; Ramsey, Guendouzi, Nelson; Smith Rowe, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Updated
Shall we have some teams? Yes we shall, when Atlético let us have theirs, but in the meantime, Arsenal are playing 4-3-3, the most notable element of which is that Lacazette again plays in the middle with Aubameyang from the left. Quite where Mesut Ozil fits into this, I’m not sure: I am sure that he’d like to be the third man in midfield, but quite how that works, especially when Aaron Ramsey is also involved, I’ve no idea.
Preamble
It must be an invigorating time to be an Arsenal fan: for the first time in a decade, they really don’t know. And what a joy that is, to not know - one of the principal joys of following sport. If everything always went as we expected it to, it’d be real life: nasty, brutish and shor t boring, predictable and long.
More than anything, though – and please correct me if I’m projecting – but the main invigoration is surely the that the issue is no more For the last five years, being an Arsenal fan has looked like the most exhausting pursuit in the world, half the family turning on its patriarch, the other half defending him out of duty, and everyone else laughing, cringing and demanding tedious to interminable questions. All of that is now over, forever. Wenger has been celebrated as he deserved, a proper replacement has been found, and however that goes, there’ll be a period of grace and enthusiasm while it resolves.
Atlético, meanwhile, might just be ready to become the best team in the world. Their defence is their defence, and three of its members seriously enhanced their reputations in Russia; Saúl is special; Griezmann is staying; and Lemar is a clever addition, so too Gelson Martins. None of that lot are playing this morning/this afternoon/this evening, but those who are will be as drilled as you’d expect. As far as pre-season friendlies go, this should be a decent one.
Kick-off: 12.35pm BST
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