Three positives and two negatives from Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid

That 1-1 scoreline might have pleased them before kick-off but, instead, Arsenal are returning to the Emirates “fuming” about it.

Mikel Arteta saw his team make a great start in Madrid and do their best to silence the home crowd, with the late first-half penalty from Viktor Gyokeres helping to cap off a dream 45 minutes for them in this semi-final tie.

Atletico fought back after the break though and really should have scored a couple even prior to the spot kick by Julián Alvarez. However, it was the Gunners who were left feeling most aggrieved as VAR sent referee Danny Makkelie to the pitch-side monitor and denied them a late chance to steal a first-leg advantage via a second penalty.

Positives and negatives as Arsenal come away from Atletico Madrid with a creditable 1-1 draw

Those 18 yards have this UCL tie nicely poised ahead of next week. Here are three positives and two negatives from the Madrid leg.

Positive #1: Resilient Arsenal

Critics love to question the ‘bottle’ of this Arsenal team (fair enough, I suppose) but they stood up to the challenge here.

There was every reason to fear the worst prior to kick-off: Atletico rarely lose at home in the UCL and they made it to this stage of the competition by beating Barcelona in each leg of the previous round, with the Catalans being the favourites to advance prior to their tie.

Consider, too, the bear-pit atmosphere that they can generate at the Wanda Metropolitano (as well as the lacklustre efforts from Arsenal of late) and one might begin to fear the worst, especially if the home side make a fast start.

But the Gunners settled quick and had the better of the first half, even going into the break with a 1-0 lead. Of course, they did rock badly for the first 20 minutes of the second half yet, even then, they steadied the ship before long and went on to have a strong end to the match.

Holding your nerve is not easy in those conditions and it is a testament to their mental strength that they managed to do it on this most tough and high-profile of occasions. The next hard part is doing it for the rest of this campaign.

Negative #1: Gifting Atletico the equaliser

Once you take the lead, it is important not to give the home team any easy routes back into the tie; just focus on weathering the storm.

That all went out the window for Arsenal.

Alvarez, Ademola Lookman and Antoine Griezmann all missed good chances to level the tie inside the first seven minutes of the restart before Ben White was then penalised for a handball, allowing Alvarez to make it 1-1 from the spot.

Perhaps it was harsh given the deflection off his shin, but you expect those decisions to go against you in Europe.

It would be unfair to judge too severely as an Atletico response was inevitable. However, they were given undue encouragement from an Arsenal team which had performed well up to that point and the equaliser was literally handed to them.

Knock-out ties are tough enough as they are; hard-nosed teams like Atletico cannot be let back into them with such ease.

Positive #2: Playing with confidence

In recent games, Arsenal have (understandably) played like a team on edge, paralysed by the weight of expectation that comes with a UCL and title push.

But they backed themselves on Tuesday night. The Gunners played out from the back which, even if uncomfortable to watch, still succeeded in bypassing Atletico and ensured they could progress up the pitch.

Much better than lumping it long towards Viktor Gyokeres who everyone knows cannot hold the ball up particularly well.

As for the big Swede himself, he showed great mental strength to step up for the penalty. He is not a very convincing player to watch at the best of times but he seems to back himself and that conviction is invaluable – as he proved – in high-pressure situations.

This was an assured collective effort when the chips were down and makes Arsenal slight favourites to reach the final – you cannot ask for more than that.

Negative #2: VAR

Uggggghhh.

There was plenty of drama in Madrid as referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot three times and twice changed his mind after on-field reviews.

The most controversial (you might have heard) was his decision to overturn the second Arsenal spot kick, when Eberechi Eze went down following a challenge by Dávid Hancko.

It is not the most stonewall penalty call ever and, yes, one could argue that the contact was minimal. However, in real-time, it looked a penalty and the referee thought as much himself, while the replays show that Eze got to the ball first and there was definite contact from Hancko on Eze’s ankle after the ball had gone.

It is certainly a justifiable call and, thus, is far from being a clear and obvious error. Yet VAR somehow recommended an on-field review and that in itself is a farce – it is a waste of time as everyone knows the decision will be changed before the referee even finishes making the hand gesture to go over to the pitch-side monitor.

From the handball calls on Tuesday and Wednesday to the red cards that Atletico benefitted from in the quarter-finals, officials often hide behind the rule book to justify divisive calls. Therefore, to then re-referee the game as they did here is to fly in the face of their own protocol for how VAR should be used and that is almost inexcusable.

No wonder Arteta was fuming.

Positive #3: One foot in the UCL final?

No one will get ahead of themselves but Arsenal could hardly have hoped to be in a better position for the second leg.

Coming away from Madrid level in the tie is a huge bonus – not least given all the chances that the home team squandered – because they rely so much on their strong record there. One would fancy the Gunners to get the job done next week.

Even if the Emirates will be nervous, a place in the final is absolutely up for grabs and Arteta bested Diego Simeone once already during this campaign.

It will be a different match, sure, and one would hardly expect a repeat of that 4-0 thrashing back in October, but after surviving in Madrid it seems that the small margins are tilted ever so slightly in the home side’s favour.

They must see it through.

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