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It’s the Champions League semi-final, and The Arsenal are away for the first leg, against Atletico Madrid. I’m dreading it to be honest, as their stadium is a cauldron… A house of hostility. A unit of unwelcomeness. A building built on a barrage of boos, and hisses… and this is what the Gunners must overcome, to win this game, or at the very least… get a draw. Not forgetting that they’re a quality team too, by the way.

Atletico Madrid have turned over some big names on their own patch, and we’re the latest big name, to try and avoid defeat here.

Atletico are on the back of a 3-2 win over Athletic Club, and The Arsenal are on the back of a 1-0 win over Newcastle.

Our Premier League form of late, may be a bit up-and-down, but our form in Champions League has been exceptional. It’s been the one constant throughout this season. Well that, and injuries.

The starting lineup was Raya in goal, Hincapie at left-back, Gabriel and Saliba central, and Ben White at right-back.

In midfield it was Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi… and up front, it was… Martinelli on the left, Gyokeres through the middle, and Madueke on the right.

The match kicked off, and the noise from the Atletico fans was deafening! We had to play the game, and not the occasion. The good thing is, we’re an experienced team now… and we have played in all types of stadiums, and dealt with all types of atmospheres.

I was still dreading this tie, nonetheless. Atletico Madread (See what I did there) started on the front foot, which is to be expected for the home side.

Arteta tweaked our system slightly, and had Rice playing deeper, as that one man wall to protect the defence. After seeing that, I was confident that we could answer any question Atletico may ask us… emphatically.

The Gunners settled into the game, and were looking like the better team, but we had nothing to show for it.

Atletico started to sit deep, and defend in number… so space became a scarce commodity. Creativity for both teams seemed to dry up… that was until the 44^th minute, when Gyokeres was played in on goal, and as he was about to steady himself for the shot… he was shoved in the back, and the referee awarded a penalty.

I was surprised it was given, as some ref’s give them, and some don’t. It was a typical fifty-fifty incident.

Anywhoooo… up stepped Gyokeres confidently, and he smashed the penalty past Oblak. It was a great penalty, a pressure penalty… that he despatched with aplomb. 1-0 to The Arsenal!! A perfect time to score!!

The whistle blew for half-time, and we most certainly deserved our lead. Another 45 minutes like that, and we’ll take an advantage back to The Emirates for the second leg.

My nervousness dissipated, and I became convinced that we were going to win this game, no matter what the opposition threw at us… but then the second half kicked off, and Atletico Madread (I did it again! HAHA!) came out looking like a completely different team.

They showed a level of attacking intent, that just wasn’t there in the first half. We were on the ropes, but we were still standing. We didn’t even stagger. We took their best hits, and smiled… but unfortunately, the officials decided to give Atletico a helping hand.

In the 56^th minute a sliced shot from Llorente bounced off Ben White’s knee, and hit his hand, and the referee pointed to the spot. A sickening decision, but this is how the handball rule has been dealt with in the Champions League this season. (Unfortunately)

Alvarez scored the resulting penalty, and just like that… the score was 1-1. I sighed the longest siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh, and it felt like The Arsenal had once again entered injustice town… and even though we don’t like it, we seem to frequent this town regularly.

Atletico were now the better team, feeding off the energy of the crowd, and the momentum swinging in their favour, after the equaliser.

Arteta reacted, and in the 58^th minute Odegaard was replaced by Eze, and in the 68^th minute… Trossard came on for Martinelli, Saka for Madueke, and Jesus replaced Gyokeres.

I like that Mikel Arteta made these substitutions to try something different, and the timing of it.

Trossard, and Saka, looked rusty at first… like they struggled to adapt to the pace of the game, but once they caught up, we looked a lot better, and regained some control of the tie.

Atletico were still having shot, after shot, on our goal… and we were still dealing with it, with great efficiency… but it was time to increase our lead.

In the 80^th minute, Eze’s foot was stepped on in the box, and the referee awarded ANOTHER penalty. This was too good to be true! Two penalties in one match, IN OUR FAVOUR… just doesn’t happen to us, but let’s be clear… it WAS a stonewall penalty!! However, the ref was advised by VAR to review the incident on screen, and once the ref went to the monitor… I knew it wasn’t going to be good news for us.

The Referee viewed the incident multiple times, which means it wasn’t “Clear and obvious” so his original decision should’ve stood, HOWEVER… the ref allowed his decision to be swayed by the Atletico crowd, and instead of remaining strong… the ref wilted, like a flower needing water, and starved of sunlight.

He overturned his decision, and we were denied a blatant penalty. The ref had singlehandedly, changed the complexity of the tie.

WE WERE ROBBED!!! It was a disgraceful decision, and further proof that VAR doesn’t go by it’s own rules… as I was under the impression that if it’s NOT “Clear and obvious” then the referee’s decision SHOULD stand.

I have to keep reminding myself, that The Arsenal are just officiated differently.

Mosquera came on for White in the 86th minute, but by then… the game just felt over… and it was. We never really recovered from that ludicrous decision. The match finished 1-1.

A draw away from home in a European two-legged semi-final tie, is NEVER a bad result… but it feels like one, because of that awful decision to overturn our penalty.

We’ll get them back to the Emirates, and exact our revenge next week. In the meantime though, we look ahead to a tricky game at home, against Fulham.

Should we appeal over the penalty decision?

Do some players need to be rested for the Fulham game?

Would you start Odegaard, or Eze, against Fulham?

Let me know in the comments as usual. COYG!!

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