Joe Cole has rated Arsenal’s possibilities of beating Atletico Madrid and reaching the Champions League final.
Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders edged out Portuguese champions Sporting 1-0 in a decent and cagey quarter-final.
Arsenal will meet Spanish giants Atletico within the semis after Diego Simeone’s side beat La Liga rivals Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate.
Champions League holders PSG face German champions Bayern Munich in the opposite semi-final tie after wins over Liverpool and Real Madrid respectively.
Following an excellent first-half to the season, Arsenal look like stuttering towards the finish line, winning just one in all their last five games in all competitions.
But former England star Cole still believes Arsenal fans ought to be ‘very confident’ about their possibilities of overcoming Atletico Madrid and reaching the Champions League final.
‘Arsenal fans ought to be very, very confident,’ Cole said on TNT Sports. ‘They at all times knew they were on the higher side of the draw.
‘The Premier League is one entity but I feel they’ll turn up against Sporting and perform and get through.
‘A semi-final against an Atletico Madrid team that we saw tonight, Arsenal are lots stronger than so many alternative areas.
‘The one thing that Atletico Madrid have got over them is experience but I still think the double is on for Arsenal, I actually do.
‘It is going to be chaos but Arsenal can’t be gentlemen in a game like that. There shall be dark arts from Atletico so Arsenal need to administer that.’
Arsenal beat Sporting 1-0 in Lisbon last week courtesy of Kai Havertz’s injury-time goal and that proved to be enough to send the Gunners into the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Speaking after the victory over Sporting, Gunners boss Arteta said: ‘It’s an enormous moment. To be a part of those 4 teams is great work.
‘It’s an awesome night. I’m very completely happy for all our people. We’re making steps that haven’t been done at this club for 140 years [back-to-back Champions League semi-finals].
‘You could have to earn it. You could have to undergo a number of work. Gratitude to the players.’
On Arsenal’s semi-final opponents Atletico Madrid, Arteta added: ‘I watched them yesterday – that stadium is special.
‘Those are the moments we would like to live together as a team straight away, so enjoy tonight. Tomorrow we are going to start to arrange for the weekend after which we are going to take into consideration that.’
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli also discussed the semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid, telling reporters: ‘We played them within the group stage but this shall be a very different game.
‘Now we have to earn the appropriate, we’ve got to do things right in the sport as well. Let’s stick with it and check out to win each games.’
Arsenal, sitting six points clear at the highest of the Premier League, face title rivals Manchester City in an enormous clash on Sunday.
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