Arsenal fell disappointingly short on Thursday night in Madrid, failing to match the away goal Atletico scored in North London and ending up on the end of a 1-0 defeat.
In the end, the result means Arsenal won’t play in next season’s Champions League. The team knew that’s what was on the line, but they couldn’t do enough over the two legs to prevent another year of Europa League football.
Truthfully, Arsenal lost the tie before they even went to Spain. That away goal from Antoine Griezmann gave Arsene Wenger’s side a near impossible task. Still, it’s difficult to defend their lacklustre efforts to complete it.
For most of the match, despite their desperate need for a goal, the team didn’t even look like they believed they could score one. This was far from the ‘give everything for Wenger’ performance they promised us. Instead, the manager will have to settle for sixth and no trophies in his final season.
Here are the individual player ratings:
4Substitutes
Calum Chambers 4.5
Although he looked a little shaky, I thought Chambers was actually Arsenal’s best defender on the night. It was a lot to ask for him to come and step into Koscielny’s shoes against Costa and Griezmann. He made a couple of great tackles to ensure the team’s hopes of an equaliser stayed alive, but it wasn’t to be.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 5.5
He should’ve started. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but it’s true. He looked lively after coming on, hit his shot nicely, and completed all his passes and dribbles. It was just too late.