Arsenal take on Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s side have reached the last four of the competition for the second season in a row, and the hope is to reach the final this time.
The Gunners have already beaten Atleti this season. They smashed them 4-0 at the Emirates in the league phase back in October.
It could be a totally different game this time around, and there is an interesting sub-plot as well – Antoine Griezmann’s hate for Arsenal.
Simple question: How do Arsenal win the Champions League from here?
Through to the semi-finals, but the performance was not good enough…
Why Antoine Griezmann hates Arsenal
Griezmann has been one of the best players in La Liga for over a decade now.
The Frenchman joined Real Sociedad’s youth academy as a teenager and went on to play over 200 games for the club.
While he was showcasing his ability there, Arsenal showed interest in signing him, and Griezmann was keen on a move too.
The attacker was told that the Gunners would make a move for him, and he waited throughout the 2013 summer window to get the transfer to the Emirates.
However, Arsene Wenger decided against it in the end, and that annoyed him.
A year later, in 2014, Arsenal tried to get him, but Griezmann, who hadn’t forgotten what they did, rejected the Londoners without any hesitation and joined Atletico Madrid instead.
Griezmann wrote in his autobiography, as per Sky Sports: “I waited, I waited, and I kept waiting… when there was no news, Eric (Olhats, his agent) called Gilles Grimandi (Arsenal scout at the time), who said that the manager was still interested in me [and] to keep waiting,
“Finally, a few hours before the market closed, he let us know Arsenal would not make a move. I don’t like to be told something and for it not to happen.
“So when Eric told me later that the London club were interested again, I told him: ‘Forget it, after the blow they gave us’.”
Prediction time: What will the score be when Arsenal take on Atletico Madrid in the first-leg?
Antoine Griezmann has already broken Arsenal hearts once
Griezmann has every right to be upset with Arsenal for saying they would sign him and then turning their backs 13 years ago.
The Frenchman would’ve been an incredible signing for the Gunners, and he made Wenger realise what he missed out on in his final season as a manager.
Arsenal faced Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of the Europa League in 2018 in what was the last trophy up for grabs for Wenger.
Griezmann scored the crucial equaliser in the first leg, did the Fortnite ‘Take the L’ dance at the Emirates Stadium, and broke Arsenal fans’ hearts.
If the Atleti star’s dislike of the Gunners is still strong, we’re sure he will be extra motivated to do it again in the two legs of the Champions League semi-finals coming up.
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