After Tuesday’s all-time Champions League classic between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, Arsenal travel to the Spanish capital to take on Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their semifinal tie, and you can follow it live with ESPN.
Two teams still searching for their first Champions League title, this meeting between Mikel Arteta’s pragmatic Arsenal and Diego Simeone’s evolved Atlético has been billed as the likely antithesis to the PSG-Bayern ding-dong — but will it play out that way in reality?
– Can Griezmann win Champions League to leave Atlético on highest of highs?
– How Arsenal’s men’s and women’s teams can create Champions League history this season
So often the nearly men of Europe’s elite club knockout competition, tonight’s match represents Atlético’s first Champions League semifinal since 2016-17.
They earned their place in the last four by squeaking past Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals.
Simeone’s team have long-been characterised by their dogmatic defending and mastery of the ‘dark arts,’ but this Atlético team have already recorded their highest goal tally in the Champions League this season (34) with nine of them coming courtesy of former Manchester City man Julián Álvarez.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are playing in a Champions League semifinal for the second straight year — a club first. Arteta’s team scraped past Sporting CP in the last eight thanks to Kai Havertz‘s late winner in the first leg in Lisbon.
The north London club’s fine early-season form saw them top the league phase with a perfect record, but their recent Premier League wobble threatens to derail their dreams of Champions League glory.
