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Arsenal raised eyebrows across Europe with their 4-0 annihilation of Atlético Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night. But it was more than just a statement one-off victory for Mikel Arteta’s side against a team famously tough to beat. It also marked an achievement that no side competing in the Champions League has ever before managed to pull off.
Record-breaking Champions League run
For the seventh straight game against Spanish opposition in the Champions League, Arsenal emerged victorious. Such has been Spain’s prowess in Europe’s elite club competition, such a run has never been done before. The Gunners thrashed Atletico off the back of defeating Athletic Club on matchday one last month, and home and away victories over 15-time winners Real Madrid in last season’s quarter-finals. They also beat Girona in last season’s league phase, and Sevilla home and away in the final year of the group stage in 2023-24.
The Gunners last failed to beat a Spanish opponent in the Champions League when Barcelona knocked them out in the last 16 in 2015-16. That being said, a number of seasons in the Europa League prior to their current resurgence, which included defeats to Atletico and Villarreal, has contributed.
Arteta: We stepped up
There’s nothing like performing on the biggest stage when it really matters, and that is what Arteta felt he got from his team.
“It was a tough match. After the [first] goal [Atletico] opened up a bit and it was a little easier for us to find the spaces,” the manager explained on Amazon Prime Video‘s post-game coverage. “Very happy with the result. At this level in the Champions League you really need to step up and we certainly did that in every phase of the play. Very happy.”
Arteta was also “delighted” to see scrutinised summer signing Viktor Gyokeres score twice after a recent drought: “He fully deserved it. The work rate he brings to the team is outstanding. We value a lot of things that he does for the team and it was the biggest smile on his face today and look at his team-mates. Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences.”
Gyokeres reacts to overdue goals
Viktor Gyokeres had never played in one of Europe’s top five domestic leagues before this season, nor had he played top flight football of any kind prior to joining Sporting CP in 2023. That led to suggestions that Arsenal paying big money for a striker already in his peak years without a proven record at the level they expect him to perform at was a significant gamble.
But after more than a month without a goal and two of his three Premier League strikes coming in a 5-0 pummelling of Leeds United, it was important for Gyokeres and Arsenal that he ended that mini-drought before it started to eat away at his confidence.
“I am very pleased,” he told UEFA after the game. “[Atletico] had some good opportunities but I think we controlled it overall. To score four and keep a clean sheet again is very good. We always keep going. We do the things right when we defend and when we get the chances we are extremely strong in taking those.
“Both [my] goals were great. I try to do my best all the time and work hard, contribute with different stuff and the goals would have come sooner or later. We want to do well, we want to win football matches but there’s a long journey to go. We will take it game-by-game, even if that sounds boring.”
What comes next for Arsenal?
The Gunners will have to wait for the chance to make it eight straight Champions League wins against Spanish teams, not facing another in this league phase after two already. It may come in the knockout rounds, but interspersed with domestic commitments, Arsenal will navigate remaining European fixtures against Slavia Prague, Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Inter and Kairat Almaty.
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