By Johnny Edward: Two time Europa League winners Atletico Madrid will take on Arsenal in Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League first leg semi-final clash at the Emirates Stadium London in a bid to reach their third final on their 115th birthday, Competesportsnigeria.com reports.
Founded on April 26 1903, Atletico Madrid have won 28 titles including the two Europa League titles won in 2010 and 2012.
Atleti radiated with excellent team morale as they trained at the Emirates Stadium ahead of the match, and hailed their hosts for maintaining an alluring edifice which appealed for great football.
The Spanish club tweeted on their official Twitter handle: “Hey, @Arsenal! The Emirates Stadium is lovely. A great stadium for a great semi-final matchup!”
The Diego Simeone’s side will be meeting Arsenal for the first time in an official match and he is wary of the threat the Gunners will pose to his side after their manager, Arsene Wenger announced he will step down at the end of the season, and desirous to end the relationship with Europa League title-success.
Simeone stated in his post match interview that he greatly respects Wenger and expects the match at the Emirates to be chippy and intense for both sides.
“We’re going to face a tough team. Arsenal have an important history in Europe,” he said during his pre-match conference on Wednesday.
“Both clubs want to play the final.”
To celebrate their 115th birthday, Atletico Madrid have announced that they will give away 115 VIP tickets for the second leg clash with Arsenal at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium next week.
Atletico Madrid suffered two defeats in the UEFA Champions League final (2013-14, 2015-16) and Simone’s side will be fired up to reach the Europa League final at the expense of Arsenal.
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