Arsenal Vs Rennes: Does anyone not remember Atletico Madrid?

Arsenal fell 3-1 to Rennes after having a man sent off, all but ending their Europa League chances. It reminded me of the Atletico Madrid tie last year, only the precise opposite of the Gunners’ naivety and inexperience was shown.

It was not the performance that was so damning for Arsenal. It was not their inability to convert chances, their lapse marking on counter-attacks, their drop in concentration when they believed an attacker was in an offside position. The deserved criticism of their 3-1 loss Rennes on Thursday night had nothing to do with their execution. Rather, it was their naivety.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Rubbish Rennes, Article of the Week

To lose a centre-back with an hour to play is never a situation that you want to be in. But red cards are a part of football, and sometimes you will be on the wrong side of them. Here, Unai Emery and his players were.

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What they needed to acknowledge, therefore, was survival. This is a two-legged tie. They had a one-goal advantage. And not just a goal, but an away goal. Scrap your way to a 1-1 draw and you are the favourites to qualify back at the Emirates next week. That should have been the thinking in the dressing room at half-time, even after suffering the double blow of first losing Sokratis and then seeing a rasping volley fly into the top corner from the resultant freekick.

To defend doggedly and with determination, to remain organised and compact, to not be over-eager to chase a goal and find yourselves caught undermanned against the counter-attack. To be alert to every danger, every situation, in every moment. That is what Arsenal should have been. Sadly, they were anything but.

Contrast that to the first-legged performance of Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the same competition last year. Sime Vrsaljko was brandished a red card in the 10th minute. Atletico Madrid proceeded to play 80 minutes, away from home, against an enthused, inspired opponent, with a man disadvantage. They were everything that Arsenal needed to be on Thursday.

Under the barking instructions of Diego Simeone, his assistant German Burgos, and captain Diego Godin, like an immovable dam, unshakeable under pressure, they stood firm against the waves of attacks. They did concede one goal. But they also did not capitulate. They understood that this was a two-legged tie and that a 1-1 draw with an away goal, which they eventually snatched through Antoine Griezmann in the 82nd minute, or even a 1-0 defeat did not leave them without hope in the second leg back at the Wanda Metropolitano.

The experience, the know-how, the guile and nous to just hang on and not let Arsenal run away with the tie was exemplary, emblematic of the hard-nosed management approach of Simeone — indeed, it was reported after that he drilled them in how to play with 10 men in the week leading up to the match. And they are all of the champion-like qualities that the Gunners so rarely exhibit.

This was not about lack of ability. This was not about poor execution or erratic passes or a failure to perform in the moment. This was about survival. And Arsenal did not.