There is the same gigantic challenge of a European final to be won. However, the air is much more charged with electricity in Munich than in London, before the reunion. “We should not expect what happened between Paris and Bayern. But not at all,” anticipates Robert Pirès, player in the only Champions League final contested by Arsenal, in 2006. “It’s going to be hyper squared on both sides, hyper defensive. It can be hard physically and nervously, you can lose your feathers too.”
“Two sides of football”
These semi-finals offer “the two sides of football”, underlines the former Gunners winger. “Both suit me well. I enjoyed seeing PSG-Bayern. Atlético-Arsenal is another way of playing football. There are some who don’t like it, no problem. But as a player, it’s an art to defend well. And both teams do it well.”
On the first leg, the locked poster was played out on penalties: those scored by Viktor Gyökeres and Julian Alvarez, and the one whistled in favor of the Englishman Eberechi Eze, finally canceled after recourse to VAR, to the great fury of Mikel Arteta.
The Arsenal manager took his team to the final four of the major European Cup for the second year in a row, an unprecedented performance in the club’s history. And he is well placed to win the Premier League title, 22 years after the last one in 2004.
A boring game?
However, his team offers a game that is much less exciting than in previous years, more restrictive, sometimes slow, “boring” as some observers describe it. “Mikel Arteta is aware of this. But what we ask of him is to win,” says Robert Pirès. “People will say: ‘They only know how to defend, how to score from set pieces’. No problem, but why don’t others do it? Since it is a weapon, the corner or the free kick. People talk, criticize. It makes me laugh.”
Antoine Griezmann will tackle what could be his last European summit with the Colchoneros
For the duration of a match, Arsenal can take everything in their path and Atlético is well placed to know: the Spaniards were taken by lightning (4-0) in October at the Emirates during the league phase. The English’s greatest strength, however, remains their defensive base, notably the golden triangle formed by goalkeeper David Raya and his central defenders, Gabriel and William Saliba.
In the Champions League this season, the Londoners have only conceded six goals in 13 games, counting the two against the Kazakhs of Kairat Almaty (3-2) on a day when the holders were resting.
Griezmann wants to believe it
This is the option taken on Saturday by Diego Simeone, the Atlético coach, who went to win in Valencia (2-0) with a team completely overhauled in preparation for the shock in London. Antoine Griezmann, entering the second period, had time to give himself a decisive pass and a little more confidence, before tackling what could be his last European summit with the Colchoneros.
