Arsenal
Arsenal will host Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, with the score at 1-1
Arsenal head back to north London with the tie wide open at 1-1 after a tense, VAR-heavy night at the Metropolitano on 29 April. If the Gunners want to reach their first Champions League final since 2006, Mikel Arteta has to be brave with three specific tactical shifts. The second leg at the Emirates is going to be a nervy, tense scrap where one mistake decides everything. With a massive home crowd behind them, Arsenal have the talent to get through, but only if Arteta manages the game better than he did in Madrid.
1. Start Eberechi Eze from the beginning
Eze changed the game the moment he came on in Spain. He looked like the only player Atletico genuinely feared, even winning a late penalty before VAR eventually chalked it off. Keeping your most creative, unpredictable spark on the bench for the first leg was a mistake that left Arsenal looking blunt, with Noni Madueke’s wide long-range effort being one of the few highlights of a stagnant first half.
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This time, Eze has to start. His knack for carrying the ball through tight gaps is exactly what you need to break down a Simeone low block. Atletico’s midfield looked leggy in the first leg, and they won’t want to deal with Eze’s directness for a full 90 minutes.
2. Push the full-backs higher right from the off
Atletico racked up an xG of 2.22 in the first leg, which is the second-highest Arsenal have faced all season. That happened because the Gunners sat way too deep after Julian Álvarez tucked away his penalty. While most teams would crumble in that Madrid atmosphere, the Emirates is a different story.
Piero Hincapie needs the green light to fly forward and stay there; his width is vital for getting crosses into the box. Ben White has to do the same on the other side. Atletico defend very narrow, so if Arsenal can stretch them early in each half, it opens up the middle for Eze, Gyokeres, and Odegaard to do some real damage. Arteta can’t afford to wait for the game to demand these runs; he has to demand them from the first whistle.
3. Use substitutions as weapons, not afterthoughts
In the first leg, Arteta waited until the final 20 minutes to throw on Trossard, Saka, and Gabriel Jesus. By then, Atletico had all the momentum and Arsenal were just hanging on. That reactive coaching gave the subs almost no time to actually impact the result. At the Emirates, these changes need to be proactive.
Bringing someone like Bukayo Saka on at the hour mark, just as Atletico’s legs start to go, could be devastating. With Atletico basically locked into fourth in La Liga and facing a summer of big changes, their squad depth doesn’t quite match Arsenal’s. Arteta has more than enough firepower on the bench to kill this tie off, but he has to be bold enough to use it early.
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Arsenal haven’t reached a Champions League final in 20 years. For the club, it’s a historic milestone, and for Arteta, it’s the ultimate proof that his project is working. If they want to be seen on the same level as the Liverpool and Man City sides of recent years, these are the nights they have to dominate. Starting Eze, pushing the full-backs up, and timing the subs right gives the Gunners their best shot at booking that final spot on Tuesday, 5 May.