Atlético Madrid 1-0 Arsenal (2-1 agg.): Europa League player ratings

Jan Oblak (8.5): The clean sheet wizard does it again! Very good from Jan, though Arsenal did not threaten his goal often so his workload was fairly minimal.

Thomas (9): I felt Thomas did a tremendous job over two legs, out of position but more than willing to run and work for the team. He was brilliant in relieving pressure on backline with surging runs forward, played some very intelligent passes and made good reads on Arsenal attackers.

José Giménez (8): Joséma’s first involvement was somewhat nervy, as he was involved in a mix up that ended with Jack Wilshere down in the box, but this time the referee was favorable. Giménez was brilliant otherwise and did an excellent job preventing Arsenal from getting too many efforts off in the box.

Diego Godín (7.5): Overall a good day for Godín, who was responsible for launching long balls forward for most of the match. He completed 84% of his passes and made many crucial interventions.

Lucas (7.5): Very good again. Lock-down for large parts of the match. He was making clearances for fun.

Vitolo (7.5): A fine outing for Vitolo, who provided Atlético Madrid with a very useful wide outlet. He seems to be coming into his own as an Atleti player, and we can only hope to see more next season.

Gabi (7): Of the midfielders, Gabi probably had the worst performance, but he was still effective at times. He probably fouled more than he should have, which put more pressure on the team, but overall the captain had a good day.

Saúl (8): Saúl was everywhere Thursday, covering every blade of grass to make sure the team held on to this result. He was an absolute powerhouse, playing what was probably his best match for a few weeks.

Koke (8): Koke was used in a more central role despite the lineup indicating he would be on the wing. He did well orchestrating the attack and got a knuckling effort to creep inside the post half an hour in. Not a spectacular match for the canterano, but he was there to make the plays when needed.

Antoine Griezmann (8.5): After a slow start — complete with a gashed head from a Calum Chambers elbow — Griezmann came to life in the latter stages of the first half, with a shot that drifted just wide of the post. Griezmann was credited with the assist for Costa’s opener and was extremely effective at stretching the Arsenal defense throughout.

Diego Costa (9): Costa got a good look eight minutes in when he overpowered Nacho Monreal and got a shot off in the box which he blazed over the bar. He was standing near Laurent Koscielny when he was injured early in the match with a leg injury that forced the Frenchman off early for Chambers. Despite not being responsible for Koscielny’s injury, Costa would go on to punish Arsenal, as he scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Atlético still had a whole half to see out, but DC18 gave them a tremendous advantage as he ran his socks off for 83 minutes.

Subs (Correa for Vitolo 74’; Torres for Costa 83’; Savić for Thomas 92’): None of the substitutions really were able to do much in this match, so it feels unfair to give them a rating — though it should be pointed out that all did well to help the cause and alleviate pressure in the dying minutes.