Arsenal and Arteta should be grateful that they are not facing one of the favourites to lift the trophy inBayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain. Atletico seem to have phoned it in domestically, finding themselves way off the pace in La Liga after losing four of their last five league games, as well as the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad on penalties.
Los Colchoneros' quest to reach the Champions League semi-finals was also greatly aided by red cards in each leg for their domestic rivals Barcelona, and even then there were times when they looked like throwing the tie away.
While Atletico remain formidable opponents when they are on song, there is an opportunity for Arteta to take his chances and follow Guardiola's lead by rotating on the big stage, and that means leaning on those on the fringes of the starting line-up, such as Cristhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Norgaard, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and even16-year-old Max Dowman.
These are back-up players who still have the quality to get Arsenal through the Atletico test, as long as the head coach trusts them. If they can get the job done over two legs, then Arteta will no longer have the huge distraction of the Premier League title race when the final rolls around on May 30, enabling him to shift focus one last time.