Atletico Madrid 1-0 Arsenal: Player ratings
Arsene Wenger's last chance at European silverware with Arsenal went begging at the Metropolitan Stadium on Thursday (May 3), as his side crashed out of the Europa League semi-final with a 1-0 loss (1-2 aggregate) against Atletico Madrid.
Diego Simeone's team put in a peculiarly disciplined and compact performance in their defence, thereby ensuring that Arsenal's front force did not get on the scoresheet on the day. It was a tepid and lacklustre performance from the visitors, who tried and tried to make something happen in the final third, but could not get past the famed Madrid defence.
It was Diego Costa, an old foe for Arsenal, who got the sole goal of the evening to seal the tie in Madrid's favour and send the Gunners to London with another 2-1 heartbreak in a European competition.
Here are the individual player ratings from the second leg:
Arsenal
David Ospina: 5/10
The Colombian goalkeeper did well for most of the night, but could not save the shot from Costa. He came out towards the Chelsea forward and went down too quickly, giving him space to hook the ball into the net.
Hector Bellerin: 3/10
It was a poor day in the office for the right-back. His crosses were not up to the mark, the runs he made could not threaten the Atletico defence, and it was his inability to stop the brute power of Costa that led directly to Arsenal falling behind on the night.
Shkodran Mustafi: 6/10
The German defender has made some perilous errors this season. However, his performance against Madrid was fairly decent in comparison. He won seven air duels on the day and completed four successful tackles.
Laurent Koscielny: NA
The French international went down to a torn Achilles and was carried off on a stretcher in the 12th minute of the game.
Nacho Monreal: 3/10
Monreal tried to make things happen on both sides of the pitch, but his execution was extremely poor on the day. His crosses either couldn't clear the first man on the pitch or had too much power on them to fly across without touching another player in the opposition box.
Aaron Ramsey: 5/10
Arsenal's biggest chance of the night came to the Welsh international, but he failed to get his foot up to the ball quick enough to make something out of it in the Atletico penalty box. He couldn't create anything special in the final third and was rendered ineffective by the disciplined defence of the hosts.
Granit Xhaka: 6.5/10
The Swiss international was amongst Arsenal's better performers on the night. He was solid in defence, making three crucial tackles and winning two aerial duels. He was also the only player from the North London side with a shot on target through the 92 minutes of the game.
Jack Wilshere: 4/10
Another poor performance from the English midfielder, who failed to rise to the occasion despite taking the captain's band from Koscielny after the latter was taken off. He had a chance to score off a cross from Lacazette, but couldn't reach the ball in time to trouble Jan Oblak.
Danny Welbeck: 5/10
The English forward has been in good touch recently, but could not replicate his performances from the last few games on Thursday. He was dispossessed multiple times and his decision-making in the final third was questionable, to say the least. He did put in a shift though, and his work-rate was immense through the game.
Mesut Ozil: 5/10
Arsenal's talisman failed them in the biggest match of the season and was unable to weave his magic in Spain against Simeone's men. He tracked back and tried to win back possession many times through the game, but barring a couple of occasions, could not create anything special going forward.
Alexandre Lacazette: 6/10
The Frenchman tried his best to trouble the home defenders but received no service whatsoever from the players behind him. He whooped in a couple of crosses from the flanks, but they were rendered useless at the end of it all.
Substitutes
Calum Chambers: 7/10
The defender definitely was the best Arsenal player on the day, and looked like the only one who was up for the challenge. Riding on the back of a strong performance at Old Trafford on Sunday, he made numerous tackles against the Atletico forwards and was a composed figure in the Arsenal box.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 5/10
The Armenian came onto the pitch with just 20 minutes remaining on the clock. He couldn't do anything significant in that period. He gets a standard five.