Dutch legend Wesley Sneijder has blasted the Champions League semi-final between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, calling it a lackluster and unspectacular encounter.
The former Champions League winner stated that the game was so poor that, according to him, it should have been stopped in the first half. "Gazeta Express" writes.
"In the 35th minute I thought UEFA should intervene. They should call London, send the teams to the locker room and organize another final between Bayern and PSG the next day," said Sneijder.
According to him, Atletico's defensive style of play and Arsenal's possession-based approach made the match boring and emotionless for such a high level of competition.
However, despite the criticism, Sneijder did not deny the success of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, praising his work highly.
"Arteta deserves a statue because he managed to keep a team like Atletico under pressure without having a single world-class player in the squad," he added.
On the other hand, Atletico coach Diego Simeone accepted the defeat with sportsmanship, emphasizing that the opponent deserved to qualify and expressing pride in his team's performance during the season.
Arsenal secured the final thanks to a narrow 1-0 victory in the second leg, winning 2-1 on aggregate and reaching the Champions League final after 20 years. /Express newspaper
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