Arsenal 1 – 0 Atletico Madrid – Match Report
Bukayo Saka’s goal just before half-time saw us reach the Champions League final for the second time in our history as we beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at an ecstatic Emirates Stadium.
With the game finely poised after last week’s 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital, we grabbed the all-important goal on 44 minutes when Leandro Trossard’s shot was parried into Saka’s path to tuck home, and set up a grandstand second 45.
Some excellent defensive shifts saw us get over the line as we repelled everything the visitors threw at us, and backed by deafening support throughout, we got over the line to book our spot in the final in Budapest at the end of the month against either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain, and one last step away from our dream of lifting the European Cup for the first time in our history.
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Highlights: Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (2-1 agg)
SAKA’S STRIKE
The biggest night in Emirates Stadium’s 20-year history began with a bang, before the teams even entered the field. Pyro, tifos and fervent chanting from all inside greeted their arrivals, setting the tone for the evening.
Just like the first leg, the game began with both teams feeling each other out as they settled into proceedings. A superb tackle from Declan Rice snuffed out a chance for Giuliano Simeone after David Raya palmed a cross into his path, while Gabriel uncharacteristically took aim from 25 yards and saw a grasscutter skim wide of Jan Oblak’s goal.
The tension was palpable, but we kept probing. Myles Lewis-Skelly saw a low centre evade everyone as it rolled across the face of goal, before Antoine Griezmann was lucky not to concede a penalty when he clumsily bundled into Leandro Trossard inside the box.
As the half crept towards its conclusion, we had dominated the possession and territory but didn’t have the lead we deserved. But all that changed with seconds to play in the half when a fine through ball by William Saliba allowed Viktor Gyokeres to get in behind the defence.
The Swede managed to keep the ball from the on-rushing Oblak before crossing for Leandro Trossard at the back post. The Belgian took his time to find the space for a shot, but it proved pivotal as his low effort was well saved by Oblak, but smart movement from Saka saw him sneak in front of two Atleti defenders and prod the rebound into the net to spark wild celebrations that ran through into the interval.
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DEFENSIVE MASTERCLASS
We couldn’t rest on our laurels though with Diego Simeone’s team netting in all 15 of their Champions League games this season, and needing one more to stay in the competition, they began the second half brightly.
They nearly grabbed an equaliser five minutes after the restart when a long ball caused William Saliba to inadvertently head it backwards into the path of Simeone, who rounded Raya and looked set to score. However Gabriel came to the rescue with a last-ditch sliding challenge to nudge the ball out for a corner.
Raya then made a good stop to deny Griezmann while substitute Martin Odegaard fired just over at the other end, and with 25 minutes to go a golden chance went begging when a fine cross by Piero Hincapie fell on a plate for Gyokeres who seemed set to bulge the net but instead steered his cushioned finish fractions over the crossbar.
But with the minutes ticking away, Atleti continued to fight and Alexander Sorloth miskicked when a big chance came his way to equalise with Gabriel mopping up the danger.
But after battling and scrapping for every ball during five minutes of stoppage-time, the final whistle brought scenes of joy never seen before at Emirates Stadium as our players celebrated wildly with our supporters around all four corners of the ground.
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FACTS AND STATS
We have reached the Champions League final for the first time since 2006 – the longest period between European Cup/Champions League finals by a team in the competition since Atletico Madrid in 2014 (40 years), and longest by an English side since Liverpool in 2005 (also 20 years).
We have equalled our club record for most wins in a single season (41 across all competitions), previously winning 41 in the 1970/71 campaign.
Mikel Arteta will be the second-youngest manager to lead us in a major European final (44y 65d on the day of this season’s Champions League final), after Terry Neill in the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup (38y 6d v Valencia).
Of the 44 instances of a team playing 14+ games in a Champions League campaign, we are now the only one to remain unbeaten through their first 14 matches of a single edition.
We kept a clean sheet for the 30th time across all competitions this season, with this their most in a single campaign since 1993/94 (30).
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Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 14 goals in 14 Champions League appearances at Emirates Stadium, scoring nine times and providing five assists. Overall, only Robin van Persie (13) and Theo Walcott (10) have scored more goals in the competition at our home.
Half of our outfield starters for tonight’s game were English players (5), with this the most Englishmen named in a Gunners starting XI in the Champions League since December 2009 (5 v Olympiakos – Walcott, Wilshere, Bartley, Cruise, Gilbert).
Myles Lewis-Skelly started in a Champions League semi-final for a third time (two v Paris SG last season), with only two players starting in more as a teenager (Iker Casillas and Kanu, 4 each).
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WHAT’S NEXT
Our quest to win our first Premier League title since 2004 continues when we head to West Ham United on Sunday, followed by an eight-day gap before we host Burnley at Emirates Stadium on Monday, May 18. We then wrap up our league campaign with a trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday, May 24.
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