{"id":319297,"date":"2026-04-16T01:32:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=319297"},"modified":"2026-04-16T01:32:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:02:44","slug":"danny-murphy-makes-prediction-for-potential-arsenal-vs-atletico-madrid-semi-final-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/danny-murphy-makes-prediction-for-potential-arsenal-vs-atletico-madrid-semi-final-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny Murphy makes prediction for potential Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid semi-final | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Danny Murphy is confident Arsenal will advance past each Sporting and Atletico Madrid (Picture: talkSPORT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ex-England midfielder Danny Murphy has confidently backed Arsenal to go on and secure their place within the Champions League final should they get past Sporting this evening.<\/p>\n

Arsenal take a one-goal lead into tonight\u2019s quarter-final second leg due to Kai Havertz\u2019s dramatic breakthrough within the closing stages of the edges\u2019 previous encounter in Lisbon.<\/p>\n

It provided a welcome morale boost for a squad badly struggling for confidence after back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Southampton within the Carabao Cup and FA Cup respectively.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, a shock 2-1 defeat away to Bournemouth within the Premier League on the weekend will only have added to the sense of nervousness amongst Arsenal\u2019s fanbase heading into a vital run of fixtures.<\/p>\n

On the eve of their second leg with Sporting, Arsenal discovered their potential semi-final opponents as Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate to secure their place in the ultimate 4.<\/p>\n

A pair of early goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres had given Barca hope of progression, but Ademola Lookman\u2019s strike on the half-hour mark proved decisive and sent Hansi Flick\u2019s men crashing out of the competition.<\/p>\n

Should they preserve their advantage over Sporting, Arsenal will do battle with Atleti over two legs (April 29 and May 5) for place on this yr\u2019s final at Budapest\u2019s Puskas Arena on May 30.<\/p>\n

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Havertz scored a late goal after coming off the bench in the primary leg (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Arteta\u2019s men will lock horns with Atleti should they get past Sporting (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asked whether Atleti pose a greater or worse prospect for Arsenal than Barcelona, former Liverpool and Tottenham star Murphy said on talkSPORT<\/a>: \u2018Higher. Barcelona, at their best, can absolutely crucify anybody with the talent they\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

\u2018Atletico Madrid have gotten some experience and a few good players but Arsenal wiped the ground with them earlier within the season once they were playing well.<\/p>\n

You possibly can\u2019t help it as a player, once you\u2019re in European competitions, I remember we [Liverpool] made the error and all of us celebrated once we drew Bayer Leverkusen within the quarter-finals and this was a Leverkusen side with Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Ballack, who then went on to be great players.<\/p>\n

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Atleti defeated Barca to secure their place on this yr\u2019s semi-finals (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018But we were like, \u201cWe\u2019ll get through that, no problem\u201d, and we ended up going out so you could have to watch out to not get too complacent \u2013 and I\u2019m sure Arsenal won\u2019t.\u2019<\/p>\n

Murphy, who won the UEFA Cup with Liverpool in 2001, added: \u2018I believe it\u2019s a significantly better scenario for Arsenal to be playing Atletico Madrid relatively than Barcelona.<\/p>\n

\u2018Regardless of Arsenal being a bit nervy on the minute, I see them in the ultimate already.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Who would win a possible Arsenal vs Atleti semi-final?<\/h3>\n