Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that he was satisfied with the officiating after his side beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate to make the Champions League final. He was also keen to praise Atletico after the match too.
Arteta after the match expressed his empathy for Diego Simeone. The Atletico Madrid manager later admitted that Arsenal deserved to go through, albeit questioning his resources compared to those of Arteta.
“It’s very hard for anyone when you’re so close and it’s taken away from you. I feel very connected to him because I know what it’s like to be on the other side; it happened to me last year. We know each other well, and I know exactly how it feels.”
‘Atletico are incredible, constantly inventing solutions’
The Basque coach was particularly happy with his side’s management of the second half.
“We already knew they were a very competitive team and that they were going to be tough. When we scored, the game went our way, but we had to manage it well. They’re a very experienced team; they’ve played many matches like this. Scoring helped us, but then we had to hold on and know how to suffer, and we showed a lot of maturity.”
The result means that Arsenal have reached the competition without being beaten the entire way through.
“We know how difficult this competition is. Atletico is an incredible team, constantly inventing new solutions, which is why they’ve gotten this far. These knockout rounds are decided by small details, and tonight they went our way.”
‘I thought the referee was very good’ – Arteta
“I thought he was very good. There was nothing to criticize,” Arteta responded when asked about the refereeing. Atletico Madrid were deeply unhappy to see all three of their penalty appeals turned down, while Diego Simeone called Riccardo Calafiori’s challenge on Antoine Griezmann ‘clear.’ Another of the incidents saw Giuliano Simeone get behind Gabriel Magalhaes, and Arteta was asked about his thoughts when it happened.
“I thought about my family: my wife, my children, my parents, and everyone involved with the club. When you see people with that expression in their eyes and that immense pride, you know that all this work is worth it.”
Arsenal will face one of Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest on the 30th of May. Atletico had made their first Champions League semi-final in nine years, but their wait for a return to the final goes on.
