At a Glance:
- Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
- The Gunners now have an excellent chance of reaching their first Champions League final since 2006.
- Ally McCoist has revealed how he thinks Mikel Arteta should approach a prospective final.
Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final tie with Atletico Madrid is in the balance heading into the second leg at the Emirates next week, although Ally McCoist is confident that Mikel Arteta’s team will find a way to progress into the final.
The Gunners were held by a spirited Atletico Madrid side on Wednesday night at the Wanda Metropolitano. Viktor Gyokeres gave the North Londoners the lead on the stroke of half-time, slamming past Jan Oblak from the spot.
Julian Alvarez then equalised for Atletico shortly after the break, dispatching a penalty after Ben White was adjudged to have blocked a shot with his hands. Arsenal were then denied a chance to win the game when referee Danny Makkelie overturned his own decision to award the away side a penalty in the dying embers.
This moment was certainly a psychological setback for the Gunners, yet McCoist doesn’t think it will hinder Arteta’s outfit back in N5 next week.
Ally McCoist provides Mikel Arteta with tactical advice ahead of potential Champions League final
Arsenal will be confident heading into the second leg next week, having controlled the first 45 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano. They’re on the cusp of reaching their first Champions League final since 2006, and thus, the Emirates is bound to be rocking on Tuesday night.
The final in Budapest would present Arteta with a completely different and unique challenge. One of Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich awaits, with these two teams’ blistering offensive styles making them frightening potential opponents for the Gunners.
However, McCoist doesn’t believe Arsenal should necessarily fear either of these sides. The commentator has told Arteta that the North Londoners shouldn’t play either PSG or Bayern at their own game and should instead stick with their pragmatic approach, if they do indeed reach the final.
“No chance [Arsenal give away the opportunities PSG and Bayern did against each other],” McCoist said on talkSPORT.
“After that game last night, I’ve never wanted Arsenal to get to a final more. I really, really hope that they get to the final. You don’t take somebody on at their own game if they’re better than you at it.
“Now, looking at that, Bayern Munich and PSG are the two best attacking sides, maybe in the world. Now Arsenal are a very, very good team. But if they took the two of those teams on at their own game, you’d have to say that Bayern Munich and PSG would win.
“So what do you do? You have to try to take them out of their comfort zones and play to your own strengths. Clearly, that would be the case, and I still think Arsenal will get there.
“After watching that last night, I certainly think they’ll get there, and I hope they get there.”
Arsenal can contain both PSG and Bayern
Arsenal have beaten both PSG and Bayern Munich in the last 18 months. In the autumn of 2024, they strolled to a 2-0 victory over the French giants in the league phase of Europe’s elite competition.
They did this by negating Luis Enrique’s team’s attack, limiting them to under one xG (expected goals), with Arteta strongly enforcing his conservatism in his game plan on that night.
Last November, Arsenal beat Bayern 3-1 at the Emirates. The Gunners were more expansive in this clash than they were in their win over PSG, exploiting some of the German champions’ defensive vulnerabilities. However, they were still able to contain Bayern’s explosive attack, again limiting them to under one xG.
Clearly, Arsenal have the ability to prevent any attack in world football from creating clear-cut chances. Of course, doing this at the end of a season when fatigue comes into effect, as well as in the pressure of a final, is very different to a league phase match in the autumn.
However, if Arsenal can overcome these soft factors and approach this potential final with a level head, then they have every opportunity of winning the Champions League.
