On Tuesday night, we witnessed one of the greatest matches in Champions League history. As a result, Wednesday evening's clash between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal was always going to struggle to live up to that.
It was a shame, therefore, that the talking point at the end of this 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital was the officiating.
Saka-Gabriel-Trossard-Arsenal
Some have lamented football as being boring and while the first leg of this semi-final tie was certainly not a dull affair, it's become rather tedious that the dominating topic at full-time was the standard of refereeing.
Mikel Arteta's men were dominant in the first half and cracking value for their lead. Yet, the pendulum swung in the second half when not one, but two VAR calls went against the Premier League side.
How Arsenal came away from Madrid with a draw
Arsenal may not have won on Wednesday night but the performance, certainly in contrast to what we've seen recenly from them was a lot more encouraging.
Sure, the goals didn't flow as one might have hoped but the Gunners were never going to blow Diego Simeone's side away on the road. They had beaten them 4-0 at the Emirates back in September but this was a totally different scenario.
Simeone-Arteta
Arteta's men should not have been out of sight when the half-time whistle blew but it was undeniably the best 45 minutes we have seen from this group of players in weeks.
The away side controlled play effortlessly, rarely gave up a chance and then capitalised just before the break. Viktor Gyokeres was bundled down by defender David Hancko. It was a clumsy challenge and a penalty was correctly awarded.
The Swede stepped up and powered the ball past Jan Oblak. Advantage Arsenal.
In truth, that was one of very few decisions that the referee got right. The decision to award Atletico with a penalty in the second half was, on reflection, the right one in the context of the rules of the game in the Champions League, but that does not necessarily mean it makes sense.
Gyokeres-Arsenal
The ball struck Ben White's hand, and as is the law on the European stage, as soon as it hits you there it's a penalty. Just see the penalty given against Alphonso Davies on Tuesday when Bayern faced PSG.
Lo and behold, Arsenal target Julian Alvarez stepped up and left David Raya with no chance, smashing the ball to his right-hand side.
The biggest injustice, however, came later in the second half. Arsenal had rallied a storm from the hosts that included the evergreen Antoine Griezmann hitting the bar and Ademola Lookman sticking a one-on-one straight at Raya.
Griezmann
Arteta introduced a host of subs, one of which was Eberechi Eze for Martin Odegaard, and when the Englishman looked to have been tripped by the aforementioned Hancko, a spot kick was given.
Yet, after minutes of deliberation, the referee went to the monitor and overturned his decision. It was not clear and obvious. On the replays, Eze was clearly tripped.
So, coming away from Madrid on Wednesday, Arsenal should feel a tad hard done by. They could and should be heading into the second leg with a 2-1 lead.
They certainly had Gyokeres to thank for the draw, but he was not the best player from an Arsenal perspective.
Arsenal's best player vs Atletico
Just over a year ago, a certain Declan Rice was running the show over two legs against Atleti's noisy neighbours, Real Madrid.
Those two free-kicks in the quarter-finals will live long in the memory but his performance on Wednesday in a slightly different role was arguably just as important.
Rice-Griezmann
In truth, Arsenal's midfield has looked tired and laboured in recent weeks but Rice and Martin Zubimendi were back to their best on his occasion.
It took a tactical tweak from Arteta for us to see the best of them, with Rice occuputing a deeper role and Zubimendi featuring as an 8. For much of this season, it has been the other way around.
Yet, in a role we were more accustomed to seeing the West Ham version of Rice feature in, he was simply outstanding.
Rice vs Atletico Madrid
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Key passes
Shots
Carries
Defensive contributions
Tackles
Clearances
Recoveries
Duels won
Rice is, of course, better than Granit Xhaka but the performance at the base of the midfield was echoes of a player Arteta has been struggling to replace ever since he left for Bayer Leverkusen back in 2023.
The north Londoners tried replacing his presence with Kai Havertz, only for the German to end up playing mostly as a striker, while Zubimendi is not the same aggressive line-breaking passer and duel winner as the Swiss.
Arsenal player ratings vs Atleti
David Raya - 7
Ben White - 5
William Saliba - 7
Gabriel Magalhaes - 6
Piero Hincapie - 7
Declan Rice - 8
Martin Zubimendi - 7
Noni Madueke - 6
Martin Odegaard - 5
Gabriel Martinelli - 4
Viktor Gyokeres - 7
Rice, however, very much is. There was something so simple about the way in which he went about his business against Simeone's side. It was something of a quarter-back role for the England international, skurrying and shuttling around, placing neat and tidy passes into the forward line just as Xhaka used to do so competently from the middle of the park under Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Arteta.
He did it while looking a million times better than the current Sunderland star ever performed that role too. That is hardly a surprise, though. He's been one of the best midfielders in the world for years now.
A vocal leader like Xhaka, the club's record signing demonstrated just that on Wednesday with his display, donning the captain's armband when Odegaard was subbed off.
Rice-Arsenal-Atletico
The midfielder's numbers were exceptional. No player on the pitch had more than his 99 touches. No player on the pitch completed more than his 83 passes.
In fact, no player across either of this week's Champions League semi-finals could better that. His pass count was also the second-most by any English midfielder in a Champions League semi-final since the statistics started being record in 2003/04.
It was performance for the ages, one in which he also registered a whopping 39 carries, won two of his three duels and had two shots. It was Rice at his very best.
Kai-Havertz-Arsenal Related
[Arsenal "have held meetings" to sign £130m upgrade on Havertz & Gyokeres](https://www.footballfancast.com/arsenal-meetings-to-sign-julian-alvarez-better-than-havertz-gyokeres/ "Arsenal "have held meetings" to sign £130m upgrade on Havertz & Gyokeres")
Arsenal are now looking to solve their striker problem by signing a big-money upgrade on Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.