Chaos broke out in the final moments of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, with manager Diego Simeone appearing to give Gunners chief Andrea Berta a go.
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone appears to have pushed Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta on the touchline.
Diego Simeone appeared to push Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta in the final moments of the Gunners’ Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Atletico manager Simeone slashed a disgruntled figure on the touchline during his team’s failed bid for a late equalizer at the Emirates Stadium. And the Argentine’s frustration boiled over when former Atleti manager Berta, who worked with Simeone for more than 12 years at Madrid, tried to get referee Daniel Sievert’s attention.
With five minutes remaining in stoppage time, Berta wanted Siebert to blow the full-time whistle, but it would be an understatement to say that Simeone was far from satisfied with his Arsenal manager. In fact, Simeone charged out of the technical area and confronted a feisty Berta, forcing him back into the tunnel.
Staff from both teams separated Simeone and Berta, and a fourth UEFA official intervened to calm the situation. Simeone then returned to the dugout and gave instructions to his team as they searched for an equalizer.
read more: Arsenal vs. Atlético player ratings, 9/10 stars help advance to Champions League finalread more: Arsenal advance to Champions League final with victory over Atletico Madrid – 5 talking points
Atlético were 2-1 up in the draw and 1-0 up on the night after Bukayo Saka scored the Gunners’ first goal in the first half. Saka scored from close range after Jan Oblak converted Leandro Trossard’s shot.
Simeone’s side had chances to equalize in the second half, with Giuliano Simeone and Alexander Sorroth making the most of them, but they were unable to capitalize on them and ended the competition at the semi-final stage.
Mikel Arteta was overjoyed after Arsenal qualified for the Champions League final
As for Arsenal, this will be their first Champions League final in 20 years, with the Gunners set to face the winner of the semi-final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest later this month.
After the match, Declan Rice gave his verdict on the result and the atmosphere in Arsenal’s dressing room after a crucial win. “It’s chaos[in the dressing room],” Rice told Amazon Prime. “I don’t think you should underestimate what we’ve done in this tournament so far.
“I think we have a right to celebrate the moment. It’s the most prestigious competition in club football. We’re just trying to soak it all up.”
“We went into the game knowing what was at stake. If you can’t stand up for that, you can’t stand up for any game of football. When we led 1-0, we knew we were going to win. We felt something special was building.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can always check out. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
