Lauren praises ‘absolutely fantastic’ Arsenal signing and makes Atletico Madrid prediction

Ex-Arsenal star Lauren has backed his former club to get the better of Atletico Madrid and reach this year’s Champions League final, as long as they control the ’emotional factor’ of the occasion.

The heavyweight semi-final contest is evenly poised following last week’s first leg at the Metropolitano, where Viktor Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez traded penalties to leave the scoreline level at 1-1 heading into tonight’s Emirates showdown.

The Gunners found themselves in a difficult moment after a suffering wobble in the Premier League, but Mikel Arteta’s men have responded well and will no doubt be buoyed by their comprehensive 3-0 victory over Fulham at the weekend.

Manchester City’s slip-up at Everton on Monday night will have further boosted the mood inside the Arsenal dressing room at this crucial stage of the campaign, with Mikel Arteta’s men targeting a historic double.

The north London giants have only featured in a Champions League final once before in their history and that night two decades ago ended in bitter disappointment, as Barcelona came from behind to win 2-1 at the Stade de France.

Arteta’s side will be desperate to go one better this time around, with a daunting clash against one of Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich up next should they advance past Atleti.

‘We have to control the emotional factor, if we control the emotional factor then the team will be able to understand the tactical point of view,’ former Arsenal full-back Lauren told Hayters.

‘We have a big chance to win against Atletico Madrid, to reach the final, and also to be able to win the league by the end of the season. It’s very important.

‘Viktor Gyokeres is scoring goals, Bukayo Saka is back in the team and scoring goals.

‘Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli can do it as well.’

Lauren believes Eberechi Eze could have a key role to play, with the England international playing arguably his best football yet in an Arsenal shirt following a £67.5million move from Crystal Palace.

‘Eze has been an absolutely fantastic signing. He’s been playing very well, you see the important goal that he scored against Newcastle,’ the Ivorian – who was injured for Arsenal’s painful Champions League final defeat to Barca – added.

‘In the last game Arsenal played against Atletico Madrid, when Eze was in the team, he did very well, and last week as well.

‘I believe that those players are arriving at this stage of the season in the best moment possible so we have a big chance to win tonight and do well by the end of the season.’

According to Lauren, it’s vitally important that Arsenal get the ball to their standout attacking threats when they win possession high up the pitch against Atleti.

‘Atletico Madrid play a low block if it’s completely necessary so therefore it’s very important to control that emotional factor,’ he went on.

‘The way Arsenal play, pressing high up, controlling the possession of the ball… I believe that when you press high up and win the ball back high up, the first pass has to be direct, looking for the striker, looking for the players that attack the spaces created, because it’s very important.

‘If you win the ball high up and then you make a bad pass, Atletico Madrid is a team that is going to close the space again and then it will be difficult to get that space.

‘Atletico Madrid is a very good team but they’ve been conceding a lot of goals in the last games. In their last seven games they have conceded 12 goals and most of them on set-pieces.

‘So they’re a very good team but if we do what we normally do in an intelligent way then we have a big chance to win the game.’

On the significance of Arsenal potentially breaking their duck in the Champions League, Lauren replied: ‘It means a lot.

‘We were in the final once against Barcelona, we couldn’t win that game, so we’ve been waiting for such a long time to be able to be in this final.

‘I believe the team is in the right mood and in the right moment to win the game tonight and play the final.’

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