Gary Neville has rated Arsenal’s Champions League chances ahead of their huge semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid.
Mikel Arteta takes the Premier League leaders to the Spanish capital on Wednesday night for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Arsenal beat Portuguese champions Sporting in the quarters while Atletico caused an upset against La Liga rivals Barcelona to reach the semis.
The Gunners were the best team in Europe in the first-half of the season but have stuttered in recent weeks, falling short in both domestic cup competitions and suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
Atletico, meanwhile, have lost four of their last five games including a penalty shootout loss to Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final.
Neville still believes Atletico will prove to be hugely tricky customers for Arsenal, however, and doubts the Gunners will get past the Spanish side and potential finalists PSG or Bayern Munich.
‘That will be a big struggle, Atletico are a team that suffocate you really in terms of the way they play,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
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‘There won’t be any prioritisation between the competitions because you have to go for both. I think these Arsenal players know they have to win the Premier League and they’re probably not thinking that about the Champions League.
‘A lot of these players don’t know how to win a Champions League, but they’ve been so close in the title race and they’ll be so desperate not to fall short in that.
‘I do think that Mikel Arteta has to go for every single game and not prioritise any over the other, but he knows that the Premier League is the one that’s easier to win than the Champions League right now.
‘I think there are better teams in there than them in the Champions League and it’s a cup competition.
‘They’ve got three games left and they’ve only got four left in the league, so you could argue that it’s easy to win both.
‘But I don’t see them getting past Atletico Madrid and the other teams in the semi-final, but I do see them having a chance with the league.’
Meanwhile, ex-Arsenal defender Matthew Upson has backed his former club to overcome Atletico Madrid and reach the Champions League final.
‘Arsenal are still looking strong in Europe, and I think they’ve got a decent tie in the semis against Atletico Madrid,’ he told Ladbrokes.
‘It’s going to be cagey between those two sides, that’s for sure. I can see both games being relatively stale, to be honest.
‘But Arsenal have got a great chance of making the final, over the course of two legs. I can see them squeaking into a final… I really can. And then it’s a one-off game…
‘Are they going to be favourites against PSG or Bayern? Probably not, in terms of how well those two teams are playing and where they’re at psychologically. But it’s a final, and anything can happen.
‘Do those fixtures create a bigger problem in their Premier League push? Yeah, it’s quite the double-edged sword, isn’t it?
‘Man City can pretty much focus all of their attention on the Premier League now, and that’s a great position to be in.’
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