Arsenal take on Athletic Club at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao as Mikel Arteta aims to start his team’s UEFA Champions League journey with a win. On Monday evening, the Spaniard reflected on last season’s semi-final disappointment, using that pain as motivation to move forward.
He emphasized two key factors for progress: having a fully fit squad and capitalizing on opportunities. While the latter is within their control, Arteta will face the Basque side without Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Jesus due to injuries. However, William Saliba and Christian Norgaard have recovered and could feature in the match.
Follow all the live action from San Mamés Stadium with football.london’s Arsenal reporter Tom Canton in our live blog below. Updates coming soon…
Key Moments
GOAL! Athletic Club 0-2 Arsenal (Trossard 87′)
GOAL! Athletic Club 0-1 Arsenal (Martinelli 72′)
Half-time
Athletic Club starting lineup confirmed
Arsenal starting lineup confirmed
GOAL! Athletic Club 0-2 Arsenal (Trossard 87′)
That’s likely the game sealed!
Arsenal lead 2-0 thanks to another impressive performance from Arteta’s side, with substitute Trossard doubling the lead after Martinelli’s opener. The Belgian calmly finishes with a shot that deflects in.
Good news
Merino is up and able to continue after a clash of heads.
Athletic Club will need to make a change, though, as Gomez cannot continue.
Merino down
Merino is down following a head collision inside Arsenal’s box.
Gomez also went down but has recovered.
GOAL! Athletic Club 0-1 Arsenal (Martinelli 72′)
Arsenal take the lead at San Mamés!
Martinelli scores less than a minute after coming on. The Brazilian presses high, wins the ball, breaks through the defense, and coolly finishes past Simon.
Second substitution for Arsenal
Eze off, Martinelli on.
20 minutes to go
Time is running out for Arsenal to break through here. The Gunners are pushing but have struggled against a stubborn Athletic Club defense.
Leave a Reply