It really is the hope that kills you
Overview
Despite most Arsenal fans packing away their belief in this side, the first leg against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final saw many get it out again, for 82 minutes at least.
The Grove was rocking, and the players responded. Even the French referee seemed keen to ensure that nothing would go wrong for Arsene Wenger’s final European home tie as Arsenal manager.
But the self-destruct streak runs thick through this Arsenal side and just moments after I commented how awesome it was that we had hardly heard Shkodran Mustafi’s name mentioned, Laurent Koscielny kicked the ball into his own face, the German fell over, and Arsenal fans were crushed once again.
It seems harsh to deduct points from the rest of the team based on a 20-second spell of abject idiocy from the Arsenal defence but there is no denying that the Griezmann goal changed this tie beyond recognition and the lack of a cutting edge at the other end was as much responsible for this result as the defensive cock-up.
From the belief that this Arsenal side really could go on and win the Europa League, fans are now left facing an all-but-impossible mission in Madrid next week.
So how did the players get on individually?
Next, defence, midfield, forwards, subs and notable mentions…
Defence
David Ospina 6
Delivered a quite exceptional pass from his hands across half the length of the pitch, pulled off a few decent saves and generally did what you’d expect from a keeper. That was the first half.
In the second half, with absolutely nothing to do until the 82nd minute, his attempt to face up to Griezmann was pathetic. Hesitant as he came out, he seemed unsure what to do and Griezmann was able to move the ball past him as Ospina summoned the Ghost of Almunia past.
Contrast this with Jan Oblak at the other end who single-handedly kept the Spaniards in this tie.
Hector Bellerin 7
Found plenty of space and was one of a number who seemed on a personal mission to do his best for Wenger, in this game at least. Was delivering crosses into the box all evening and was the only one of the defence not in any way culpable for Atletico’s goal.
Shkodran Mustafi 5
The biggest compliment I was going to give Mustafi was that he didn’t once draw attention to himself the whole evening. Exceptional, I wrote, before he fell over on the goal line in the most Arsenal of ways.
Laurent Koscielny 5
Superb display against Kevin Gameiro until he kicked the ball into his own face, allowing Atleti to change the face of the tie completely with only a few minutes remaining.
Absolutely no clue why he tried to slice his volley at the back post when he had the chance to score.
Nacho Monreal 6
Absolutely key to Arsenal’s opening goal. Chased the ball down on the edge of the Atletico box and was quick enough to close his legs with the defender tried to nutmeg him, allowing him to collect the ball and play in Jack who crossed to Lacazette.
Put in even more crosses than Bellerin (9 v 7) but played Griezmann onside with some criminal positional awareness.
Next, midfield, forwards, subs and notable mentions…
Midfield
Granit Xhaka 7
At the heart of everything Arsenal did, no player put in more crosses (10), played more passes (131 v next nearest, Mesut Ozil on 96), three of them key, or saw more of the ball. On the flip side, none of his four shots found the target and he only made two tackles, both of which were given as fouls.
Jack Wilshere 7
Prior to his injury, Jack had looked more of a liability in the middle of the park but he found some form against Atletico, like the rest of the team.
It was his cross to Lacazette that finally broke the deadlock.
His only shot of the game was on target and he played two key passes. Every one of his long balls found their man yet he didn’t manage a single tackle and made just one trademark dribble.
Aaron Ramsey 6
Perhaps the quietest of the midfielders and forwards, Aaron Ramsey’s engine never stopped but he played fewer passes than everyone else, excluding Lacazette, Welbeck and Ospina.
Wayward at times, in a game which saw Arsenal register 28 shots, Ramsey accounted for eight of those himself but only three were on target.
Next, forwards, subs and notable mentions…
Forwards
Mesut Ozil 8
Along with Xhaka, was involved in everything.
Worked hard to win back possession without anyone on BTSport even noticing, allowing them to maintain their Lazy Mesut narrative, played more key passes than anyone else on the pitch and maintained possession like the king that he is.
His finishing, however, was, like the rest of the team, poor.
Danny Welbeck 7
Spoke before the match of the debt he owed Arsene Wenger and how he wanted to make sure the boss went out on a high and set about making that happen against Atletico.
He worked hard all night but the flaws in his game were evident in front of goal.
Alexandre Lacazette 8 ♦
Six minutes in had a chance to open the scoring but blazed his volley over. Was denied shortly after by a brilliant save from Oblak. His dive in the box was awful, his leap for his goal brilliant.
Hit the bar, had eight shots in total and played five key passes.
MotM.
Next, subs and notable mentions…
Subs
With a bench that contained Petr Cech, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Alex Iwobi, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Eddie Nketiah, Arsene Wenger didn’t believe he had anyone available to change the game in the final minutes after Atleti equalised.
Of course, had Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang been allowed to play in this competition – as players in his position will be next season – Arsenal would have had either the Gabonese forward or Lacazette to turn to.
Had they not sold Olivier Giroud they would have also had him to come on to get on the end of some of Bellerin’s crosses.
With none of those things an option, Wenger made no changes.
Notable mentions
Clement Turpin
After years of dodgy decisions at the hands of refs in Europe, Frenchman Clement Turpin, chose Arsene Wenger’s final European home game as Arsenal manager to try and right some of the wrongs visited upon his countryman by simply doing his job well.
The decisions made were 100% correct.
The two yellows were indeed two yellows and the only shocking thing was that the referee didn’t bottle the call because it was a semi-final with less than ten minutes on the clock.
Similarly, Simeone seemed to swear at the ref, but, even if he didn’t, his behaviour on the sidelines deserved a dismissal.
Santi Cazorla
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was Santi Cazorla training on the Emirates pitch before the game
Speaking to a reporter, Cazorla said he expects to be back in full training in two weeks which is just unbelievable news.
The home fans
Arsenal’s home fans are often heavily criticised and at the start of the week journalists like Martin Samuel were already writing off the atmosphere at the Emirates ahead of this match.
The home fans, as they tend to do for big games, turned up and drove their team on until the 82nd minute sucker punch sucked the life out of them, understandably.
Not that you’ll read about it anywhere. As I was searching our Getty account for images of the Arsenal fans, but found only shots of Atleti ones.