AS said Diego Simeone’s side “wanted to be brave” but were “drowned” by Arsenal’s intensity and organisation during a devastating 13-minute spell at the Emirates.
In reference to the problems they had at the Emirates after training on Monday evening, Spanish newspaper AS described Atletico Madrid’s 4-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium as “a cold shower” and hailed Mikel Arteta’s side as “an impeccable Arsenal full of pace and resources.”
The Madrid daily said Diego Simeone’s men “wanted to be brave” but were ultimately “drowned” by Arsenal’s intensity, set-piece mastery and “devastating rhythm”.
AS reported that Atletico “survived and held out for almost an hour” before collapsing under pressure from a team they called “a perfect football machine.”
They wrote that Declan Rice’s free-kick delivery for Gabriel Magalhães’s opening goal was “like half a penalty” and that Arsenal’s superiority in both structure and execution left Atletico “disintegrating” within minutes.
The report praised Arsenal’s tactical balance and relentless tempo, singling out Bukayo Saka, Ebere Eze, Martin Zubimendi, and Gabriel Martinelli for their roles in overwhelming Atletico’s defence.
“Arteta had surprised with Eze and not Merino in midfield and Lewis-Skelly and not Calafiori at full-back,” AS observed, adding that “his team emerged very aggressive and with an effective high press to which Simeone’s players only responded by losing balls.”
David Hancko and José Giménez were repeatedly targeted by Arsenal’s wide play, with AS calling Saka “a constant torture” for the visitors. Atletico “took ten minutes to make a move with more than ten passes in a row,” the report said, noting that early on, Arsenal’s “transitions were devilish, their rhythm exhausting just to watch.”
For all Atletico’s initial resilience, the Spanish outlet suggested the difference in quality was stark. “The distance between the two teams is actually astronomical,” they wrote. “The English side are a perfect football machine. Atlético are a team that want to, but can’t.”
After Gabriel’s opener, Martinelli added the second following a driving run from Myles Lewis-Skelly, before Viktor Gyökeres scored twice to complete a ruthless 13-minute burst. AS pointedly remarked “A direct free kick for this Arsenal is like it was for Diego Simeone’s first great Atlético side,” a nod to the work of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, whose routines again proved decisive.
The Spanish publication concluded that Simeone’s side “wanted to be brave” but found themselves “swept away by a storm that fell on them like a jug of ice water,” adding that “at the Emirates, the cold showers are not only in the taps, but also on the grass.”
Arsenal’s victory marked their third successive Champions League win without conceding, while Atletico’s defeat was their heaviest ever in the competition.