Arsenal defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at Estadio de San Mames. But it took two late substitutions for Mikel Arteta’s men to find the breakthrough.
The Gunners were met by an inspired Athletic Bilbao side in the first half, sitting in a compact 4-4-2 midblock and looking to stunt their central progression.
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Ernesto Valverde’s side managed seven shots in the first half, winning the ball back and breaking quickly, causing Arsenal some issues in transition.
But in the second half, Arteta made a few changes to both the personnel and the tactical set-up, swinging things in their favour and eventually finding the breakthrough.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Arteta’s tactical tweaks
The biggest tactical change from the Nottingham Forest game at the weekend was the usage of Eberechi Eze, who came slightly narrower on a number of occasions against Athletic Bilbao.
Against Forest, Eze was much more tied to the touchline, whereas his positioning against Athletic Bilbao often depended on the counter movement of Ricardo Calafiori, who took up a number of positions throughout the match.
The midfield trio of Arsenal would often rotate positions, switching the depth they were playing at and looking to drag Athletic Bilbao block forward to offer space for Viktor Gyokeres to attack.
However, their central progression suffered due to a large gap between the midfield and attacking units, with the Gunners struggling to find a link.
| Stats | First half | Second half |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 62% | 58% |
| Shots | 4 | 7 |
| Shots On Target | 1 | 5 |
| Big Chances | 1 | 2 |
| xG | 0.31 | 0.79 |
In the second half, Arteta clearly instructed for more switches of play, finding Noni Madueke isolated against his fullback, causing the Athletic Bilbao block to shift from side to side, opening more gaps in central areas.
The changes later on were the final piece of the puzzle to breaking through the stubborn Spanish block, but we will touch on that shortly.
Gyokeres and Eze combination
The dynamic between Gyokeres and Eze is clearly one that is still being established, despite the latter setting up one for the former against Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
Key tendencies of these players have to be taken into account, such as Gyokeres’ desire to run the channels and attack in transition, while Eze wants to receive the ball in central areas between the lines.
The game plan against Athletic Bilbao didn’t seem to afford these things, as Eze was drifting central but with little service in regards to entry passes from his teammates, while Gyokeres was often having to receive the ball with his back to goal and little support in close proximity.
- Gyokeres touches: 18
- Eze touches: 40
- Eze successful dribbles: 2
Trossard and Martinelli super subs
Arteta noticed the space between the midfield and defensive unit of Athletic Bilbao’s 4-4-2 pressing scheme when Arsenal had possession inside their own half, which likely inspired the changes that followed.
Leandro Trossard entered the fray replacing Gyokeres in the 65th minute, before Gabriel Martinelli also replaced Eze in the 71st minute, and these two changes directly impacted the game.
Trossard being more of a false nine, wanted to drift away from the Athletic Bilbao central defenders, operating in the space between the midfield and defensive unit.
This gave the opposition defenders a different task, whether to track Trossard’s movement inside or stay home.
Martinelli’s addition gave Arsenal the threat in behind to punish Athletic Bilbao’s defenders if stepping onto Trossard in that space, which ended up resulting in the opening goal for the Gunners.
That one change in dynamic allowed Arsenal to access the space Athletic Bilbao were giving up in their pressing scheme and turn it into a dangerous attacking chance, changing the state of the game.
- Trossard touches: 14
- Martinelli touches: 5
- Martinelli successful dribbles: 2
Mosquera continues to impress
But the attacking changes weren’t the only things that stood out in the match, as Arsenal’s new defensive signing was a man mountain once more.
Cristhian Mosquera impressed in his first start against Nottingham Forest at the weekend and carried his form over for his Champions League debut, being imperious at the back once more in the absence of William Saliba.
The 21-year-old made six clearances in the match, making one tackle, winning four of his six aerial duels and completing 94% of his passes.
Mosquera’s £13million transfer fee to the Gunners this summer is already proving to be a bargain, especially with the injury to Saliba, one they struggled to cope with in the past.
While Arteta clearly has tactical questions to answer when looking to fit all of his new pieces into the team, the increased competition level has noticeably pushed the other squad players to up their game, which came in useful on the night.