A stunning second half saw Arsenal ease to victory in the Champions League. Check out the best facts and Opta data in our Arsenal vs Atlético Madrid stats page.
Thirteen devastating minutes in the second half saw Arsenal thrash Atlético Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Viktor Gyökeres scoring his first two goals in the competition for his new club.
Gabriel Magalhães gave the Gunners the lead just before the hour, before Gabriel Martinelli and Gyökeres’ brace made it four by the end of the 70th minute.
It had been a relatively competitive game prior to that, but Atlético collapsed in unfamiliar fashion as Arsenal ramped up the pressure in the second half.
Mikel Arteta’s men maintain their 100% record in the league phase of the Champions League, while Atléti have just three points after three games.
The hosts made a bright start, with Eberechi Eze hitting the crossbar with a deflected effort in the fourth minute, with Declan Rice firing just over from the rebound.
It took until the 25th minute for Atlético to have their first shot of the game, but Julián Alvarez probably should have found the net with it. After David Raya raced out to stop Giuliano Simeone from getting to the ball, the son of the Atléti boss Diego took the resulting throw-in quickly with the Arsenal ‘keeper out of his goal. However, Alvarez’s attempt at the open goal from around 25 yards out at an angle went just wide.
The teams went in level at the break, with Arsenal having recorded nine shots, their most in the first half of a Champions League group/league phase game without scoring since September 2009 against Olympiakos (14). They had only amassed 0.65 xG though, showing that they had in the main been half chances at best.
Alvarez came close again for the visitors early in the second half, cracking the crossbar with a curling effort from just outside the Arsenal box.
It was the hosts who took the lead, and to the surprise of nobody, it came from a set-piece. A free-kick given against Marcos Llorente after Martinelli drew a foul from him was delivered perfectly by Rice, making it a simple task for the unmarked Gabriel to head in from close range.
Since his debut for Arsenal in August 2023, only Hakan Çalhanoglu (11) has more assists from dead balls in all competitions across Europe’s big five leagues than Rice (10).
Martinelli doubled the lead in the 64th minute after superb work by Myles Lewis-Skelly led to the teenager feeding the Brazilian, who was in acres of space on the left of the penalty area and his shot was only palmed onto the inside of the post and in by Jan Oblak.
It meant Martinelli had scored in each of his last three Champions League appearances, as many as in his previous 18 games in the competition.
Atlético were all over the place and conceded a sloppy third just three minutes later when Martinelli’s cross led to a blocked shot from Eze, but the ball fell kindly for Gyökeres, who was given time to control, turn and divert a shot into the net for his first Champions League goal for Arsenal.
The Swede had another as Arsenal made it four goals in 13 minutes, and it was back to what they knew with a simple corner routine. Rice again put an inch-perfect ball into the far post, where Gabriel headed it back across goal to give Gyökeres a simple tap in.
Arteta’s side could afford to take their foot off the pedal in the closing moments as the game was well and truly gone, and ended with a statement win for anyone doubting the credentials of the Premier League leaders.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Arsenal vs Atlético Madrid stats from their Champions League meeting at the Emirates Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
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