It has been a peculiarity of this campaign, which has otherwise been arduously laborious. So much attention has been paid to the Premier League and all that that great quest represents, that club football’s biggest trophy has almost been… overlooked.
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And yet, here they are, the newly rampaged team.
“That’s how we all feel,” Mikel Arteta said, “and that’s the energy I feel between the team and the club. This is the stage we want to be on, that we have earned.”
The question is whether that feeling of freedom changes depending on how this week goes.
If Arsenal fail to beat Fulham at home, or if they beat Atlético Madrid when the title seems to be slipping away, the Champions League will have even more weight than it already has.
After all, victory wouldn’t just save a season. It would transform it.
A season that has been seen as potentially descending to the worst “bottle job” of all time could still turn out to be the most magical in the club’s history.
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And now, as they begin to feel the Metropolitano playing field, the great trophy comes into view for the first time. That can change the feeling. It can generate pressure where there was little before.
All of this also comes amid the awareness that even reaching the Champions League final can have another effect. It will give the club an immense boost, a wave that will potentially carry them to a title.
Naturally, Arteta has wanted to focus on those positive aspects, on presenting everything as an opportunity or “a privilege”.
The thing is, few would necessarily describe playing against a Diego Simeone team in a Champions League tie as a “privilege”. It’s usually a battle.
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They are “very, very competitive,” as Martin Odegaard put it, somewhat understatedly. Meanwhile, Arteta praised the “communion” between the team, the coach, the club and even this relatively new stadium. There is no need to worry about transferring the atmosphere of its old, grand estate in Vicente Calderón here. For nights like this they are all together, as they showed against Barcelona in the quarterfinals.
This time that stadium may be drenched by a storm, deepening the feeling of a game that must be endured.
Atletico’s own ferocity may then be triggered by how much more desperate they are about this than Arsenal. For them it is not a break from anything. Atlético has no rival for the national title. Last week they lost the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.
That has only intensified the desire to give Antoine Griezmann the farewell he deserves before leaving for MLS, to appropriately cap an entire era at the club.
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Atlético has a lot of unfinished business in this competition, and this is the first time in the Simeone era that it has gone further than Real Madrid, the local rival that has eliminated it five times.
It all means that this semi-final pits the two big clubs that have not won the Champions League against each other.
If that reality has only deepened the pressure on Arsenal for their disappointing recent performances, they have not been playing as disappointingly as Atlético. Simeone’s men have only achieved two victories out of nine.
This is far from being a great Atlético. It’s not just that they don’t defend like before, it’s that they can’t. Simeone does not have quality. They have become porous.
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The argument even persists in Spain that one of the reasons they are here is because Barcelona has its own Champions League complex with respect to Atlético.
It may seem harsh, but Arsenal should not forget that they already beat Atlético 4-0 this season in this same competition. That shouldn’t lead to any complacency either, as another big reason why Atlético are here is because they are still capable of fighting. The victory over Barcelona was also a lesson in defiance.
Atlético de Madrid’s hopes are largely placed on Antoine Griezmann, who will leave the club this summer (Getty)
A lot has changed since October. Arteta, naturally, said this game “will be very different.”
On the one hand, Arsenal simply don’t attack like they did during that period. In fact, they don’t really have anyone in the form of Griezmann, or even Julián Álvarez, who Simeone surprisingly admitted Arsenal want.
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A difference like that could still decide this. Another regret about Griezmann’s imminent departure is that it really seems like he has gone to another level. It is as if he were a rare example of one of those players who have improved with age because his experience has only deepened his exceptional football intelligence. There are times when it seems like you can see the entire field at once. Look at the touch on Alvarez’s breakaway goal against Tottenham Hotspur, or his elegant finish in the same match.
A description within Atlético – especially since he left for the United States – is that Griezmann has become “the quarterback.” Not necessarily in terms of position, but simply being the brains of the team. There is a sophistication in his movements that facilitates the creativity of his game. Now he is beyond being a complete player.
Arsenal, to be frank, currently have no one of that class.
Odegaard and Eberechi Eze have the potential to end up like this. Kai Havertz, absent here, has some touches. Viktor Gyokeres has been a disappointment.
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Many arguments could be repeated here about whether some of this is due to Arteta’s limitations, whether they are too controlled or whether they simply need superior signings.
A problem for Griezmann and Atlético, on the other hand, is that they are playing with one of the most solid defensive structures in Europe.
Arsenal face a busy end to the season with a two-leg European tie against Atlético Madrid next week (Getty)
Arteta again sought to change the emphasis.
“Now is the time to make a statement and show how good we are, how much we want it and make it happen – it’s clear. The opportunity is in front of us and we have to take advantage of it.”
This air of greater freedom in Europe can help, especially in a game like this.
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“What an opportunity we are going to seize with both hands,” Arteta said.
Victory here may even mean the difference between both trophies and neither.
Except, as the sentiment around the Metropolitano emphasizes, this is the one trophy that stands above all else. Arsenal’s players will now be very aware of this.
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