Madrid – Key quotes from Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal:
“Speaking to the boys and understanding the penalty incident for the second goal getting overturned. It was against the rules and I don’t understand it. Very upset. There is clear contact; he makes the decision and you can’t overturn it when you have to watch it 13 times.”
— Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports of a late penalty decision that was overturned after a VAR review
“Overall it was a tough game, it’s a tough place to come but it’s only half-time. “We know when we play at home with our fans it’s going to be different. We just have to do our job and be at our best.”
— Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, scorer of his team’s goal
“We were the team we have to be — if we play at this level we can win. From my point of view they didn’t create much danger against us… the team defended well and they just had that penalty.”
— Atletico captain Koke told Movistar about his side negating the threat of Arsenal
“We will not think about the previous game where we lost 4-0 there (in October). I believe it will be a different game and we will do everything to get a good result and get to the final. We don’t think about lifting the trophy, first we need to work on the pitch in the second leg. Arsenal want to win the Champions League as well so we need to pass them first.”
— Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told TNT Sports of the challenge awaiting the Spaniards next week in London
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Source: AFP

