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Absolutely fucking sensational, not only to win the tie, but win both games. Historic moment for our club, the lads should be immensely proud of themselves. Unreal. COYG
Is there any other club in the world with a 75% win record against Real Madrid?
Tierney, White and Zinchenko didn’t make a single mistake all game.
True POTM
fake madrid haha
I knew they were cooked once they put on Ceballos 😅
I was in a bar chanting “Oh Dani Ceballos” and everyone was very confused at me
I think control and containment just sums up both legs.
Clinical when we needed to be and we were just completely solid over both legs.
Not perfect, but it feels good to look forward to something after how the league has gone this season.
Having just watched the extended highlights (I couldn’t watch the full match live due to having to work), some thoughts:
- That ref was definitely operating under the thumb of the home fans and the intimidating venue. Initially didn’t give a penalty for the foul on us. Initially gave a penalty for that Mbappe flop in the area. But fair play to him, he had the balls to do the right thing and refer to VAR.
- I’m sure the Madrid fans disagree, but VAR was on point today!
- Very poor penalty from Saka. Not sure what he was thinking.
- Huge cock-up by Saliba for their goal. Not sure what he was thinking with that complete lack of awareness around him. But credit to Vini Jr because that was still a tricky shot to pull off. Raya could really do nothing on that one.
- Saka’s run and finish for our first goal was absolutely perfect. And he was a constant threat. If only he’d fine better with that penalty it works have been pretty much a perfect performance from him.
- Kiwior was excellent in defense, as was MLS. Seemed like Timber was pulled out of position a bit, but Madrid were stronger down their left, so fair play to him. And he did okay overall.
- Odegaard did very well, aside from not having his shooting boots on (again). Rice and Partey also did very well in the middle of the park. We win this match in the middle of the pitch.
- Fast Gabi is back, baby! Burned their defender out and put a very calm, clinical finish past Cortois.
- That atmosphere was intense! Full credit to the lads for getting the job done there.
- Honestly, I am genuinely shocked by that result. I was hoping for a draw, or at least that maybe we’d squeak out a narrow loss.
- Madrid did not live up to expectations, but they are still a very good team. Thankfully their finishing was generally off. Overall a 2-1 win for us was a very fair result.
- PSG will be very tough. But if we can beat Madrid both home and away, we can beat PSG.
Come on you Gunners!!
All I’ll say about VAR is that if we had today’s VAR in the Premier League, we would already have mathematically won it.
I don’t think Saka’s penalty was that bad. It was a bit slow and a bit low, but T-Bone only got it because he guessed the right side and was able to make a huge adjustment in the air.
Even when Martinelli isn’t passing or shooting well, he’s such a threat because they can’t just let him get behind him. It reminds me a lot of Theo Walcott. For years he wasn’t much good at crossing, wasn’t much good at shooting, and didn’t have the trickery to get around a defender, but was insanely fast. We all wanted him to either become a great striker or a great winger, but except for a brief half-season or so, he was mostly just fast. But, being mostly just fast is still incredibly unsettling. I love it when Martinelli can combine his speed with shooting. But, even when he doesn’t have his shooting boots on, he forces defenders to stay a bit deeper just so they don’t get burned. That opens up options for players who want to play between the lines.
As for PSG, they don’t scare me like Madrid and Barcelona do. I don’t think they’ll be the pushovers they were in the group stage, but I don’t think they’re quite an elite team anymore. I think they’re more at the Borussia Dortmund / RB Leipzig / Newcastle / Nottingham Forest sort of level. They just barely got past Aston Villa, and I don’t consider Aston Villa to be elite either. That isn’t to say it will be an easy game, or that Arsenal will definitely beat them. But, I think they’re the weakest of the 4 remaining teams and there’s no question that Arsenal can beat them.
I think the only team out of the other three semifinalists I’m hugely afraid of is Inter.
Yeah, I would be happy to win the CL without meeting them
I think… and I really hope I’m wrong… that if we meet Inter again in the final, that’ll we’ll lose the same way we did earlier this season.
That’s my fear…but they also can play a low block really well, unfortunately Mikel hasn’t unlocked that shit yet. If we can eek it to pens though…
If we get to pens, absolutely I believe we win those. But that 1-0 haunts me. Italy is just too good at it.
Arsenal started the game without a striker and finished the game with 3 left backs on the pitch. This wasn’t even a full strength Arsenal beating Real Madrid away.
I also wonder if this helps keep players like Saliba and Gabriel from wanting to join Real Madrid. Arsenal is getting better and better, Real Madrid looks like it needs a rebuild.
Omg Hala Arsenal
They did it 😭😭😭😭
That ref was 100% overwhelmed by the moment. I can’t say I blame him - but it has to be said.
In other news, MUNICH HERE WE COME
Holy shit! The boys did it!
The way people are so annoyed that Partey is missing the next game just underscores how important he has been lately. I don’t think many people will say he’s the player of the match. But, he has been so solid in such a critical role this season.
Even though central midfield is one of the areas where we have the fewest injuries, he’s hard to replace. Declan Rice is probably the only person who is as defensively and physically solid. But, if we have Rice playing as a #6, we miss out on his attacking contribution. I wonder how the midfield will look. PSG’s midfield isn’t very big, but they’re very energetic. Will Jorginho be back? Can MLS start there? Zinchenko?
I think I’m leaning toward Dec holding and Merino in the left 8. With Trossard dropping deep, those two can interchange so we can still use Merino as the big man up top.
Arsenal typically plays in a 4-3-3 that becomes a 4-4-2 in defence. It’s almost always Odegaard that goes up top with the striker when they switch to that 4-4-2.
Because of that, I don’t know if it would work very well to have what you’re describing, basically a 4-4-2 in attack, that becomes a different 4-4-2 in defence.
Also, right now the midfield 3 is basically a #6, a left #8 who gets forward sometimes, but becomes part of a midfield defence when the ball is turned over (typically Rice) and a #8/#10 whose defensive contribution is mostly pressing opposing CBs and GKs (Odegaard). If you replace Partey with a player who sometimes plays as a striker, you might get caught out with nobody screening the back line. If you made Merino the left #8 and Rice the #6, it’s less risky, but then you lose out on Rice’s forward runs.
No. Was still talking 4-3-3 just with Trossard dropping deep sometimes and Merino stepping up to fill that space.
So, Merino playing Odegaard’s position, half #8, half #10?
Nah, more like how Havertz played as the left 8. Often pushing forward into the centre forward position, particularly for the long ball, with the “striker” (Trossard/Jesus) dropping in. I mean, who knows what Mikel has up his sleeve. I just see this as being less disruptive to the relationships that already exist than moving someone other than Rice into the 6.
