“This season, Arsenal’s in-possession shape has mainly featured a dynamic box midfield, with the left-back roaming inside to complete it, or providing width to allow Leandro Trossard or Eberechi Eze to operate in a left-sided attacking midfield role. But on Tuesday, they constantly occupied the full-back space, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli attacking down the flanks. In the 4-0 win against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, Arsenal’s shape on the ball resembled a 4-3-3 with narrow full-backs, and when Myles Lewis-Skelly roamed inside the pitch, Declan Rice shifted to occupy the left-back space. Atletico’s out-of-possession shape, meanwhile, oscillated between a 4-4-2 and a 5-3-2, with Giuliano Simeone dropping to become the right wing-back. …”
NY Times/The Athletic