Play against him Arsenalrival of Atlético in semis, it has become a ‘toothache’. And it is that Mikel Arteta has raised a ‘wall’ (almost) impassable.
The Gunners have barely conceded 29 goals in the 44 parties who have played this season between Premier y Champions. David Raya accumulates, on the contrary, 23 clean sheets!
Arsenal 0-0 Sporting de Portugal Summary Champions League
He Sporting CP, after falling 0-1 in the first leg of quarterssaw how little by little the ‘lions’ hopes of a comeback faded, who only managed to worry Arsenal with a shot to the post of Geny Catamo in it 43′ and a shot of Maxi Araújo that came out skimming the afterwards in it 48′.
The second leg – it ended 0-0 – was a “boring” game. As is. This is how one of those involved described it, without going any further: Morten Hjulmand. “We knew it would be difficult. “It was a low intensity match, without rhythm, without goals… I would say it was boring,” assured ‘CBS’.
We knew it would be difficult. It was a low intensity match, without rhythm, without goals… I would say it was boring
The captain of the ‘lions’ did not bite his tongue and was critical of Arsenal’s ‘other football’: “The game had many interruptions, and that’s why we couldn’t impose the pace we wanted. Their set pieces always dragged on for a long time. If I were an amateur looking at it from the outside, I would find it boring. “That’s not how Sporting likes to play.”
The game had many interruptions, and that’s why we couldn’t set the pace we wanted. His set pieces always lasted a long time.
“We want to score goals, create opportunities, and we couldn’t do it here. To be honest, we didn’t believe enough to win the game.”lamented Hjulmand, making self-criticism. “The Peugeot performed at the same level as the Mercedes”he assured Rui Borges, Sporting CP coach using irony.
The Peugeot performed at the same level as the Mercedes
The truth is that the cold data seem to prove Hjulmand right. The return of quarterfinals between Arsenal and Sporting CP (0-0) gave the figure of Joint Expected Goals (xG) lowest in the entire Champions League this season: 0,93. The ‘gunners’ added 0.64 and the ‘lions’, just 0.29 according to ‘Eight’.
It was, to tell the truth, the tone of the tie. Between the first leg and the second leg, only one goal and three expected goals were recorded.. Very far from those seen in the Bayern-Real Madrid (10 goals and 9.5 xG)in it Atlético-Barcelona (5 goals and 5.5 xG) and in the Liverpool-PSG (4 goals and 5.6 xG). Simeone already knows what awaits him. It’s time, paraphrasing Joaquín Caparrós, “to visit the dentist.”
