Europa League Semi Final Draw: Arsenal v Atletico Madrid

[krengon]

We might have caught a break, Costa usually causes us a lot of trouble..

 

[El Duderino]

Losses to Villareal, Espanyol and Sporting. The others were to the hands of Chelsea, Barça and Sevilla.

In La Liga they have 3 losses all season. Us, in the other hand.... lost to Brighton, Watford, et. al.

The only way is to not to let on in at home and go for a goal draw at their ground. Tough.

 

[Furious]

How'd that work out? :|

Beat them 1-0 at home, then we were throughly outplayed in the away leg only for mad Jens to save a last minute penalty from Riquelme.

 

[El Granit-Coq]

Were gonna get wrecked. Atleast we made it to the semi

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Losses to Villareal, Espanyol and Sporting. The others were to the hands of Chelsea, Barça and Sevilla.

In La Liga they have 3 losses all season. Us, in the other hand.... lost to Brighton, Watford, et. al.

The only way is to not to let on in at home and go for a goal draw at their ground. Tough.

Chelsea are ****e, and we'd be able to beat those first three clubs as well and would be pissed if we lost to them. So Atletico are able to **** things up as much as us. Not to mention Watford etc are better than the bottom half of La Liga, which really only has about five teams worth anything at any given time with the rest just there to make up the numbers and pad stats for Ronaldo and Mesi. This will be tough but if we actually play to our ability we can do it.

Would much rather have met them in the final though.

 

[Rex Stone]

Beat them 1-0 at home, then we were throughly outplayed in the away leg only for mad Jens to save a last minute penalty from Riquelme.

That run was incredible, I can remember every match. Never been more proud of us.

That final hurt me so much, I cried then felt numb for days. Apart from the Wayne Bridge game I don’t think I’ve ever felt as dejected after a loss.

 

[CanadianGooner1608]

I predicted yesterday that we will get Atletico! Let me go with my next prediction, we will qualify and play OM in the finals.
So I will be totally conflicted with my two teams meeting in Lyon.

I agree with that prediction, however OM-Arsenal would be fantastic for me as it is my all time favorite club vs my childhood friend's all time favorite team.
There is no way we wouldn't watch it together, and I'm expecting war.
^ best way to watch football, this.

 

[El Duderino]

Chelsea are ****e, and we'd be able to beat those first three clubs as well and would be pissed if we lost to them. So Atletico are able to **** things up as much as us. Not to mention Watford etc are better than the bottom half of La Liga, which really only has about five teams worth anything at any given time with the rest just there to make up the numbers and pad stats for Ronaldo and Mesi. This will be tough but if we actually play to our ability we can do it.

Would much rather have met them in the final though.

My pessimism stems from the fixture being 180 minutes long. Too much time to give to our defense and midfield.

Over 90 minutes on neutral ground we could actually clutch it, as we have before against better teams.

 

[baccy_man]

The only chance we are going to have is if we dramatically improve our passing and stop giving the ball away we have had too many games where players have passed the ball and it has gone straight to the other team,

 

[CanadianGooner1608]

You know what? If we can't beat them right now while we're on a winning streak, then why bother waiting until the finals?
We can beat Athletico, just as much as we can lose to them, and I'm betting on us to win.
I'm also going to predict a Wilshere revival, and for Welbeck to keep his current run of form.

We're supposed to be fans. Let's get behind the club and support them.
I'm excited, this will be a good/great pair of games!

 

[Mo Britain]

That run was incredible, I can remember every match. Never been more proud of us.

That final hurt me so much, I cried then felt numb for days. Apart from the Wayne Bridge game I don’t think I’ve ever felt as dejected after a loss.

We so deserved to win that sodding final. It would have opened up new vistas for the club.

 

[gunner4lyfe]

Know what would be really Arsenal-esque. We beat Atletico then go lose the final. Lol. Seriously though, it will be hard but if Wenger takes it serious and actually goes out with a game plan, we can win.

 

[Sanchez11]

We can beat them over 2 games and id rather that than the final. If the players cant raise their game for this, then we deserve to go out. Plain and simple!!

 

[Sapient Hawk]

Seeing as we play Utd away between both legs, should we field the kids at Old Toilet and risk getting hammered, or do we field a strong team and risk getting injured?

The answer is there before it ever became a question.

We got hammered at Old Trafford when there were things at stake & the fact that the upcoming match with them is a dead rubber, throwing it does not need thinking twice.

First time either side of this pointless match, play a combination of the kids & fringe players who wont be called on for Atletico.

 

[Sapient Hawk]

I predicted yesterday that we will get Atletico! Let me go with my next prediction, we will qualify and play OM in the finals.
So I will be totally conflicted with my two teams meeting in Lyon.

I'd hate for you to be put in such a position to choose, which is why I hope Salzburg knock them out (as I feel they're the weaker of the two).

So in short its not so much what's best for @carlito'sway but what's best for Arsenal

 

[Kroket]

My pessimism stems from the fixture being 180 minutes long. Too much time to give to our defense and midfield.

Over 90 minutes on neutral ground we could actually clutch it, as we have before against better teams.

I agree with this, this bunch is like the opposite of the teams we had about a decade ago. Well capable of raising their game for a big occasion but far too inconsistent to go anywhere in a league campaign.

Really would have preferred to face Atletico in a one-off final. Failing that I would have at least wanted us to face them away first. Still think we can pull it off but we'll need something very special. If Atletico score more than once at our place I fear we'd be done for.

 

[Sapient Hawk]

That run was incredible, I can remember every match. Never been more proud of us.

That final hurt me so much, I cried then felt numb for days. Apart from the Wayne Bridge game I don’t think I’ve ever felt as dejected after a loss.

The Chelsea match, painful as it was, we lost fairly.

The goal by Eto'o should never have stood as he was offside. Another stubborn 14 minutes & we would've been European champions at the first time of asking.

 

[asukru]

I can only see this as a positive, either way we would end up playing Atletico. I beieve we will win this tie!

 

[tap-in]

The answer is there before it ever became a question.

We got hammered at Old Trafford when there were things at stake & the fact that the upcoming match with them is a dead rubber, throwing it does not need thinking twice.

First time either side of this pointless match, play a combination of the kids & fringe players who wont be called on for Atletico.

Is it a dead rubber though? If we end up finishing the PL 7th then I dont think we get EL next season. For the club that is a big financial loss as we have made quite a bit from this seasons EL, similar to what we do in CL group phase (and then we go out anyway) Also its still Utd and history will only show win or lose.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Chelsea are ****e, and we'd be able to beat those first three clubs as well and would be pissed if we lost to them.

Chelsea are **** now but earlier on in the season they were playing some decent stuff.