11 hours ago
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The crazy thing was that Atlético Madrid were well in this Champions League tie until the 57th minute. Diego Simeone’s team had defended robustly. They had just hit the crossbar through Julián Alvarez. But then they were not and it was the speed and brutality with which Arsenal moved the game away from them that took the breath.
There were more set-piece goals, inevitably – for the breakthrough and No 4. It was Declan Rice to Gabriel Magalhães and then a repeat of the link-up, the only difference being that Gabriel headed square for Viktor Gyökeres to bundle over the line.
It was Gyökeres’s second of the evening, his first for 3-0 coming after he dug a breaking ball out of his feet to jam home with the help of a deflection off David Hancko. Gyökeres’s work-rate was tireless. This was his reward. Gabriel Martinelli had scored the second after a driving run from Myles Lewis-Skelly, Simeone kicking an imaginary ball in frustration as his players failed to check the progress of Arsenal’s provider.
Atlético saw stars, four concessions in 14 minutes and it added up to a message from Arsenal to the rest of Europe. They have won three out of three in the league phase of this competition and have kept clean sheets in all of them – an extension of their domestic miserliness. Mikel Arteta’s team have been breached only three times all season. They are intent on bulldozing their way to glory.
Atlético carried decent form to London, four wins and a draw in five matches, a run that included the 5-2 victory over Real Madrid. Slightly against type, Simeone’s team have been cutting loose at times and conceding a few, too, but the manager’s pre-match vibe had been entirely on brand.
According to reports in Spain, Simeone had raged about the lack of hot water in the Emirates Stadium showers after Atlético’s training session on Monday night. It was clear evidence of the dark arts, felt a man who recognises them when he sees them. After 14 years at Atlético, Simeone is always on the lookout for new ways to ignite the mentality of a siege.
Is there is a more animated touchline presence in the Champions League than Simeone? It is a rare kind of theatre watching him watching his team; practically playing with them. The boundaries of his technical area are little more than a suggestion. It feels as though Arteta, himself no stranger to professional dramatics, has a lot to learn.
Both managers felt their hearts leap in the early running when Eberechi Eze made a move and then shot from the edge of the area, the ball looping up off Hancko before dropping back down on to the crossbar. Rice could not convert the rebound. It would be an isolated flicker of final-third action before the interval, albeit the spectacle retained an engrossing quality.
Arsenal brought the intensity, especially in the counterpress. Whenever they lost possession, there was a fury in their veins to regain it. Atlético faced the acid test of their composure on the ball. Happily for them, they had the technicians to cope. Pablo Barrios in the middle of their 4-4-2 formation, for example. And Koke, of course, alongside him.
Arsenal had the better of the limited crop of first-half chances. Eze almost played Saka in with a pass up the inside right channel, Hancko having switched off. Jan Oblak had not and the Atlético goalkeeper was out to get there first. Moments earlier, Lewis-Skelly, preferred to Riccardo Calafiori at left-back, dragged well wide of the far post while Martinelli would have the ball in the net on 37 minutes after Martín Zubimendi robbed Nicolás González to release Saka for the cross. Martinelli was offside.
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Atlético’s big opening came on 25 minutes when Simeone’s son, Giuliano, caught David Raya in possession after the Arsenal goalkeeper had wandered all the way over to the side of the pitch. After a quick throw-in from Simeone Jr, Julián Alvarez measured a shot for the far corner of the empty net from an unfavourable angle as Raya chased back. He was narrowly off target.
Alvarez shimmered with menace. He had almost got away in the 29th minute after a charging down a clearance and running from halfway only for Gabriel – with help from William Saliba – to snuff him out. It was an example of Arsenal’s hunger to keep the back door bolted.
Early in the second half, Alvarez thought he had scored after a dart along the left-hand edge of the area and a wonderful curled effort that beat Raya only to rattle the crossbar.
Gyökeres was denied when Oblak rushed out to block from him but the home crowd would soon be saluting the set-piece combination between Rice and Gabriel for having made the difference for the opener. From Simeone’s point of view, it was too easy for Gabriel to get the run on González. Why was the winger in charge of him?
Atlético tried to respond. Simeone Jr went close, denied by a Gabriel block after an Alvarez pass. Arsenal had further gears to find. How they moved through them.
