Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger not blaming individuals after Atletico Madrid draw

Sunday’s clash may not be the last time Mourinho and Wenger face off in opposite dugouts, but it is likely to be their final Premier League meeting.

The Frenchman watched on as his side failed to utilise their man advantage until the hour mark following Sime Vrsaljko’s early red card, which Antoine Griezmann then nullified as he netted late on to give the Spanish capital outfit an all-important away goal going into the return leg next week.

Arsenal must score in the second leg against an Atletico team who have kept 11 clean sheets at home in a row if they are to reach the final and keep alive hopes of ending Wenger’s 22-year reign on a high.

He added: ‘I always feel the biggest rivals are our biggest friends because they’re the ones that pushed us to the limit.

Only a minute after the hour mark, Jack Willshere plays a lovely one-two pass with Granit Xhaka before laying off a sublime cross for French hitman Alexandre Lacazette, who does brilliantly to score a header and break the deadlock to put Arsenal 1-0 up.

Patrick Vieira says he would be ready for the challenge of managing Arsenal but insists he has no intention of leaving his current job at Major League Soccer side New York City FC.

Wenger is right. Arsenal should have won this game emphatically enough to make next Thursday’s second leg a mere formality.

“Our fans were fantastic, but we created an anti-climax by giving the ball away”, he explained.

Just as against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, they were exposed by a simple long ball.

But that is part of the problem. “If it stays 1-0 Atletico have to play in a way they don’t like playing”.

Atlético Madrid, and Griezmann in particular, had been quiet all night in attack, but bad Arsenal clearance brought two goalscoring opportunities from just outside the area, and Ospina saved well on both occasions.

Alexandre Lacazette broke the deadlock with a fine header from Jack Wilshere’s cross after 61 minutes, and it appeared Arsenal would head to the Wanda Metropolitano next week with a slender lead. I played my best football there and made my name in the game.

It’s was all Arsenal afterwards as the Gunners attacked like a swarm of bees but Atletico’s defence is a famed for its firmness. “They never really blow teams away with 4-0 or 5-0 wins so even 1-0 would have been a great result for Arsenal but now they are up against it”.