MADRID: Atletico Madrid and Arsenal played a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal in Madrid on Wednesday night.
Now, the second leg between these two sides on May 6 in London will decide who will make it to the final against either Bayern Munich or the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, with PSG coming out on top 5-4 in a thrilling first leg.
A string of half-chances were witnessed in the tightly contested first half before a penalty was converted into a goal by Viktor Gyokeres in the 44th minute, bringing some life into the contest just before the halftime, as per UCL’s official website.
Piero Hincapie, Martin Odegaard, and Noni Madueke had made scoring attempts for the Gunners, and Julian Alvarez also stung the palms of David Raya courtesy of some magical footwork in the 14th minute, but it was Viktor who drew the first blood with a powerful kick after being brought down by David Hancko.
But 12 minutes after the break, the scores were level. Alvarez, Ademola Lookman, and Antoine Griezmann looked absolutely threatening, but it was a penalty conversion from Argentinian star Alvarez after a handball from Ben White that brought back some hope into the hosts’ camp.
Diego Simeone-managed side saw some fantastic football played in the second half, but the opportunities did not get converted into goals on a scoresheet, with Griezmann striking the crossbar and Lookman giving Raya some serious headache. The scoreline stayed unchanged, taking the decider to London.
Following the match, Simeone said, as quoted by UEFA CL’s official website, “The first half was evenly matched. Maybe they had more possession, but they did not create many chances. They have a very strong squad–when the substitutes came on, they were better than the starters. Even so, we were better than them in the second half.”
Griezmann opined that his side fared better in the second half, saying: “We played better in the second half. We also played with more intensity. That is the way to go, and that is what we will do in the second leg–it will be a great game.”
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal coach, said while speaking to TNT Sports, as quoted by UEFA CL’s official website, that the team had a lot of positives, especially considering Atletico’s strong home record. “We had a lot of positives, a lot of very good things that we did. This team [Atleti] — the history and the record that they have at home is incredible. So we knew we were going to have to navigate that”, he said.
Viktor, who scored the lone goal for Arsenal, also said that both halves were quite contrasting, with the Gunners controlling the first one well and Atletico starting way better in the second one.
“In the first half, we controlled the game quite well. We had a few good opportunities to score, and we managed to score from one of them. In the second half, they started much better and maybe deserved to get a goal eventually. Towards the end, I think we got a few okay chances”, said Viktor. (ANI)
