Champions League Round-Up: Atletico Madrid Secure Top 8 Place, Girona Loser to Arsenal

The 2024-25 Champions League knockout phases will soon be upon us, given that the league ended Wednesday. All four La Liga clubs were in action: Barcelona was hosting AtalantaAt Real Madrid took on BrestAtletico Madrid traveled to meet RB Salzburg while Girona came up against Arsenal.

Rb salzburg 0-4 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid has probably qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after a convincing 3-0 win over RB Salzburg. It was a dream start for Diego Simeone’s side when his son Giuliano Simeone opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes. Shortly after, he created Antoine Griezmann to find the back of the net from close range, and the Frenchman net his second in the final minutes of the first half.

Just beyond the hourly mark, Marcos Llorente got on the score field after a fine assist from Rodrigo de Paul. The result means that athlete finishes fifth place in the league level, which is very impressive.

Girona 1-2 Arsenal

Girona ends their Champions League involvement with a seventh defeat in eight league phase matches. They took the lead at Montilivi when Arnaut Danjuma hit, but his goal was canceled by Jorginho’s punishment. Visitors would then complete a quick-fire-turn 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 actions in the second half. Cristhian Stuani found the back of the net for a Girona equalization, but was excluded because of an offside in the structure. Arsenal also missed a late penalty from Raheem Sterling, although it did nothing in the big arrangement of things.

In the end, it was a very disappointing Champions League campaign for Girona that only picked up points against Slovan Bratislava (2-0 win). However, it was at least a very good experience.