At a Glance:
- Atletico Madrid struggle at defending set-pieces.
- Arsenal could exploit Diego Simeone’s flaw.
- First leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta must be racking his brain to find methods to exploit Atletico Madrid’s flaws ahead of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Arsenal winning the Champions League is far from a pipe dream this campaign as they are one of the favourites to go all the way in the competition.
Notably, the Gunners’ 4-0 annihilation of Diego Simeone’s side earlier this season goes to show that they can beat anyone on their day. Atletico Madrid’s attacking approach under Simeone in recent seasons means Mikel Arteta will have to be prepared for an end-to-end contest.
Gone are the days when Atleti would often sit back and soak the pressure in Europe. What might give Arteta and Co the edge over the Spanish giants is the hosts’ struggles at defending set-pieces.
Arsenal should target Atletico Madrid set-piece weakness in Champions League semi-final
Set-pieces are Arsenal’s strength and in knockout competitions where two top teams tend to often cancel each other out, the Gunners have a weapon that sets them apart from the rest.
The last time the two sides went toe-to-toe with each other, Gabriel Magalhaes and Viktor Gyokeres wrote their names on to the scoresheet from set-pieces.
However, even on the weekend, Athletic Club’s opening goal against Atletico Madrid, courtesy of Aitor Paredes’ well-taken header came from a corner. Notably, Paredes, who stands at 6’1″ was left unmarked in the box.
Diego Simeone has every reason to be worried, as conceding from set-pieces is not a one-off instance for his side. In their recent 3-2 defeat to Elche, Andre Silva scored a brace from a free-kick and a corner respectively.
The Portuguese striker was in acres of space for his eventual winner while the Madrid-based side failed to win their aerial battles while Jan Oblak was late to arrive and pary the ball away for his first goal. Gabriel is an elite aerial threat and if given such space to exploit inside the box, he could punish Atletico Madrid.
Even when Diego Simeone and Co lost the Copa del Rey final to Real Sociedad recently, Mikel Oyarzabal’s eventual spot-kick emerged from Juan Musso’s initial foul on Bennat Turrientes. Turrientes ghosted past Atleti’s backline and Musso made a meal of claiming the ball, as he fouled him.
All in all, Arsenal have every reason to back themselves as their upcoming opponents have their flaws too.
Atletico Madrid form ahead of Arsenal clash
Another positive for the Gunners is that Atletico Madrid are in abysmal form heading into the game.
The side from the Spanish capital have won two and lost seven out of their last nine games.
While writing Atletico Madrid off in a high-stakes Champions League game would be a fool’s errand, Arsenal could very well be confident about beating them away from home as well.
