With an extremely tough task awaiting Arsenal in the Spanish capital this evening, Arsenal fans will be hoping that things go our way tonight instead of the disappointing turn of events that saw Atletico Madrid leave the Emirates stadium last week with an undeserved 1-11 draw.
The players really need to pull a great performance out of the bag tonight, with the defence needing to stay focused and strong and the attackers needing to make the most of their chances rather than squandering them as we did last week.
On what could be his last European games as Arsenal manager, we need Arsene Wenger to get his team selection right and to get the 11 players chosen to approach the game in the right way. So a lot needs to go our way but I do believe we have a great chance against an Atletico that is not the formidable force of recent years.
The fact that Arsenal know that we have to score helps I think, while the home team may be caught in two minds. We are better going forwards anyway so the job ahead suits this Gunners side. That also makes Wenger’s team choice a bit easier.
Ospina
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
Xhaka, Ramsey; Wilshere
Ozil, Welbeck; Lacazette
subs: Cech, Chambers, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Nketiah.
So the boss has opted to stick with Danny Welbeck and keep Mkhitaryan in reserve, which may prove to be a vital sub later on. The defenders that made the mistakes that put us in the position have been given the chance to redeem themselves and the whole team will be expected to create chances and dominate as we did last week.
There is also the threat of Costa to consider and that is not likely to be easy for Arsenal, so can we do it? Of course we can. COYG!!!
Bob.