The 2024-25 Champions League knockout stages will soon be upon us, given that the league phase came to an end on Wednesday. All four La Liga clubs were in action: Barcelona hosted Atalanta, Real Madrid took on Brest, Atletico Madrid travelled to face RB Salzburg, while Girona came up against Arsenal.
RB Salzburg 0-4 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid have safely qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after a convincing 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg. It was a dream start for Diego Simeone’s side as his son Giuliano Simeone opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes. Soon after, he would set up Antoine Griezmann to find the back of the net from close range, and the Frenchman netted his second in the final minutes of the first half.
Just beyond the hour mark, Marcos Llorente got himself on the scoresheet after a fine assist from Rodrigo De Paul. The result means that Atleti finish fifth in the league phase standings, which is very impressive.
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Girona end their Champions League involvement with a seventh defeat in eight league phase matches. They did take the lead at Montilivi as Arnaut Danjuma struck, but his goal was cancelled out by Jorginho’s penalty. The visitors would then complete a quick-fire turnaround as teenager Ethan Nwaneri scored just before half time to make it 2-1.
There would be no more goals, but there are plenty of action in the second half. Cristhian Stuani found the back of the net for a Girona equaliser, but VAR ruled it out because of an offside in the build-up. Arsenal also missed a late penalty from Raheem Sterling, although it did not matter in the grand scheme of things.
In the end, it was a very disappointing Champions League campaign for Girona, who only picked up points against Slovan Bratislava (2-0 victory). However, it was a very good experience at least.
