Former Chelsea player, Joe Cole has forecast the Champions League semi-final matchup between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders narrowly defeated Portuguese champions ,Sporting 1-0 in a closely contested quarter-final.
Arsenal will face Spanish powerhouses Atletico after Diego Simeone’s team triumphed over La Liga rivals, Barcelona with a 3-2 aggregate score.
Champions League titleholders PSG will encounter German champions, Bayern Munich in the other semi-final fixture following their victories over Liverpool and Real Madrid, respectively.
After a remarkable first half of the season, Arsenal seems to be faltering towards the conclusion, having secured only one win in their last five matches across all competitions.
Nevertheless, former England international Cole remains optimistic, asserting that Arsenal supporters should feel ‘very confident’ about their prospects of defeating Atletico Madrid and advancing to the Champions League final.
“Arsenal fans should be very, very confident,” Cole remarked on TNT Sports. “They have always recognized they were on the favorable side of the draw.
“A semi-final against Atletico Madrid… Arsenal possesses significant strength in various areas.
“The only advantage Atletico Madrid holds is experience, but I genuinely believe Arsenal can achieve the double.
“It will be chaotic, but Arsenal cannot afford to be gentlemen in such a match. Atletico will employ dark tactics, so Arsenal must navigate that effectively.”
Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory against Sporting in Lisbon last week, thanks to Kai Havertz’s goal in injury time, which was sufficient to propel the Gunners into the Champions League semi-finals.