The in their attempt to reach their fourth European Cup final. They have not been worse than Arsenal in the tie. He lacked a goal in the Metropolitano when he governed and he lacked it again last night in the sections in which he dominated. Mikel Arteta has put the Gunners in the second final in their history, but they suffered an Atlético that gave its all, although in the end, with Griezmann and Julián Alvarez already on the bench, they lacked clarity to generate more danger in the final minutes. However, Sorloth had the tie in a shot into the wind with everything in his favor to score.
1
David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori (Piero Hincapié, min. 57), William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Ben White, Bukayo Saka (Noni Madueke, min. 57), Eberechi Eze (Martin Ødegaard, min. 58), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Martín Zubimendi, min. 73), Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard (Gabriel Martinelli, min. 82) y Viktor Gyökeres
0
Jan Oblak, Matteo Ruggeri, Robin Le Normand (Nahuel Molina, min. 56), Dávid Hancko, Marc Pubill, Marcos Llorente, Ademola Lookman (Johnny Cardoso, min. 56), Koke, Giuliano Simeone (Alexander Sørloth, min. 56), Antoine Griezmann (Álex Baena, min. 65) and Julián Alvarez (Thiago Almada, min. 65)
Goals
1-0 min. 43: Bukayo Saka
Referee Daniel Siebert
yellow cards
Pubill (min. 80), Simeone (min. 91), Arteta (min. 92), Koke (min. 94), Arrizabalaga (min. 94)
Except for the substitution of Cardoso, Simeone formed with the same eleven that in the Metropolitano overwhelmed and shook Arsenal for more than half an hour of the second half. That meant forming the central pair with Le Normand and Hancko and pushing Pubill to the right lane. When Giuliano played, who was replaced by Le Normand in the first leg interval, Llorente was designated last night as Koke’s squire. Somehow, with this lineup, Simeone forced Arteta to have to be the one to operate so that what happened in the second half of the Metropolitano did not happen. The Basque coach opted for the same eleven with which he beat Fulham (3-0) on Saturday. And that meant leaving Zubimendi on the bench again. The Basque midfielder has arrived with just the right fuel at the end of the season due to the physical demands of the Premier after seven months at full capacity. Calafiori for Hincapié revealed that Arteta preferred a good foot on the left side and Saka for Madueke and Trossard for Martinelli, stings for stings stuck to the lime on the left flank was less variant. Of course, since he had recovered from his Achilles injury, he was a greater threat than Madueke.
With the cards on the table, and waiting for his fans. Koke imposed stripes and touch and Griezmann and Julián Alvarez were two more point guards. Ruggeri and Lookman held Saka well, withstanding his challenges and defending him forward. If Simeone and his players wanted to continue the second half of the Metropolitano, they succeeded because they quickly scared Arsenal with two arrivals. The first was direct and vertical. A long kick from Oblak that Giuliano and Griezmann turned into a wall and Julián Alvarez was forced to hit the shot at the near post. Between the Argentine and Griezmann they made the second serious attempt on the edge of the area. Giuliano did not reach the back and low center of Griezmann. Arsenal were not comfortable, including hitting the stands with balls.
Arteta’s players could only stretch with a first long ball to Gyokeres and with a filtered pass to Saka behind Ruggeri’s back. From those first attacks after the first quarter of an hour, Arsenal scored three corner kicks. His great weapon that was well defended by Atlético. Arsenal were further into the opponent’s half in the final stretch of the first half, finding themselves with the goal in the last minute. A psychological blow born from a cross shot by Trossard that Oblak rejected and Saka finished off.
Simeone made no changes at half-time. Their footballers had sustained the game. . In advantage, he ordered a retreat and counterattack to punish any loss by Atlético. Simeone’s team led again and had the tie in a slanted shot by Griezmann and in a mischievous play by Giuliano that followed a header from David Raya. With the ball on the penalty spot to push it into the empty goal, he received a grab from Gabriel Magalhaes that unbalanced him, but the referee did not consider it enough. The referee also did not signal the eleven meters after Calafiori stepped on Griezmann. This time what he pointed out was a previous foul by Pubill in the dispute for the ball. Both Simeone and Arteta changed chips at the same time. Molina, Sorloth and Cardoso for Le Normand, Lookman and Giuliano. To the other side. Hincapié, Odegaard and Madueke for Calafiori, Eze and Saka. It was Arsenal who had the lead 2-0 after that carousel of changes, but Gyokeres finished high without any mark.
Simeone has already played his last tricks with Almada and Baena for Julián Alvarez and Griezmann. A change that meant seating their two most differential players. Atlético’s final charge was based on lateral centers looking for Sorloth. What Arsenal defends best. And when the Norwegian was able to land a low center he hit the air. That’s where Atlético’s European adventure ended.
