Atletico Madrid host Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, with both teams still in pursuit of a maiden trophy in Europe's top tier. Tuesday night saw PSG edge out Bayern Munich in a thrilling 5-4 first-leg tie showcasing the best of both sides, although tonight's affair is likely to be a rather different type of football altogether.
Team News and Injury Concerns
Diego Simeone's side saw off Barcelona in an enthralling 3-2 quarter-final tie on aggregate, while Mikel Arteta's men did just enough in a rather more pedestrian 1-0 aggregate win over Sporting Lisbon. Arsenal appear depleted and low on confidence after being pegged back in the Premier League title race, while Atletico ran out 3-2 winners in La Liga in their last game and have looked a different beast in the knockout stages.
Shifting Styles
After the highest-scoring semi-final game in the competition's history, the expectation from all quarters is that tonight's match will be a little more, well, measured. No less intense, of course, but instead of the attack-after-attack approach at Parc des Princes, the Metropolitano should see two teams more eager to keep things a bit tighter. A prediction is difficult beyond feeling confident that the tie will be very much alive for next week's second leg in north London.
Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners in the two sides' league phase encounter earlier this season, but both sides have transformed since then. The Gunners face a stern test against a resurgent Atletico side that has excelled in knockout football under Simeone.
Good afternoon! Welcome to The Independent's coverage of tonight's Champions League action as Arsenal take on Atletico Madrid in the second semi-final tie. Yesterday saw a thrilling first leg play out between PSG and Bayern Munich as the reigning champions won 5-4 in Paris to take a slim lead into the second leg in Germany next week. Now the onus is on the Gunners and Atleti to replicate the exciting nature of that tie when they come face-to-face this evening. We'll have all the team news, line-ups and latest updates so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 8pm.
