Arsenal are having an excellent season. The Gunners are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League and are one of five sides with a 100% record after three Champions League matches (alongside European giants Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain). Their latest performance, however, could well be their best yet of the current campaign as they hammered Atletico Madrid 4-0 at the Emirates.
Viktor Gyökeres ended his seven-game goal drought with a brace here that topped off an exceptional all-round performance. Moreover, Mikel Arteta’s men kept yet another clean sheet and are yet to concede a goal in this term’s Champions League (an achievement matched only by Inter Milan). So can Arsenal maintain their momentum in the coming weeks and months, and will this be the season in which Arteta leads his side to the Premier League title, the Champions League… or both?
Arsenal 4-0 Atletico: Flawless Arsenal Floor Madrid
AN EMPHATIC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WIN 🤩 pic.twitter.com/l1n5PCGEer
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 21, 2025
Despite the emphatic scoreline, it took Arsenal almost an hour to score their first goal against Diego Simeone’s Atletico at the Emirates on Tuesday. But the newly assured Gunners had no cause to panic as they restricted the visitors to just one shot on target in the whole game. Arteta’s players put in a proper shift and didn’t give their opponents the time or space to create many meaningful attacks. And then, once they’d worn down the Madrid side, Arsenal struck with an unstoppable explosion of four goals in 14 minutes midway through the second half.
The home side had their chances in the opening 45, with Eberechi Eze’s deflected shot hitting the bar, while Gabriel Martinelli had a goal disallowed for offside. Then early in the second period, Julián Alvarez hit the bar for Atletico, but that was as close as they came to scoring. Arsenal then turned the screw and Gabriel Magalhães glanced in from close range after Declan Rice’s excellent free-kick to score his second-ever Champions League goal.
The second goal wasn’t long in coming, with Martinelli finishing well after a surging run from Myles Lewis-Skelly. Martinelli has now scored in each of Arsenal’s three Champions League matches this term. Then came a goal from Gyökeres, his first in the competition this season, after he latched onto a shot from Eze and just managed to get the ball out of his feet and slip it past Jan Oblak and into the Atletico goal, courtesy of a deflection. Not the prettiest of finishes, but Gyökeres won’t care a jot.
Gyökeres’s second goal – and Arsenal’s fourth – was an even closer-range effort which he bundled home off his thigh from about a yard out. Arsenal fans will be dearly hoping this scrappy brace will give the Swede the confidence he needs to rediscover his scoring form on a more regular basis. And if he does, whoever the Gunners face could be in trouble. In a match that saw impressive performances for so many Arsenal players, Gyökeres was certainly challenging for the Man of the Match award, along with Gabriel, Martinelli, and the ever-consistent Rice.
Can Arsenal Maintain Their Sky-High Standards?
Arsenal have conceded only three goals in their 12 games in all competitions this season, and only one from open play. If they continue to concede an average of a goal every four games, they are surely going to win something. Whether they can go all the way in one or both of the most prized competitions – the Premier League and the Champions League – is open to debate. But the Gunners’ defensive solidity gives them an excellent chance.
It is likely that the Premier League will be “easier” to win than the Champions League, though of course it will still be very challenging. The format of the Champions League means that, if Arsenal make it to the final, the match could be decided by a single moment of brilliance or a mistake, whereas these things even out more over the course of the Premier League season.
The likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or PSG (who beat the Gunners at the semi-final stage last term), will prove tricky opponents over two legs or indeed in a one-off final. But that is the standard to which Arteta aspires, and if they continue their progress, they would fancy their chances against anyone.
There are a couple of relatively straightforward fixtures coming up, with a trip to Burnley next up in the Premier League followed by Slavia Prague in the Champions League and Sunderland away in the league. But then comes a trio of massive games: Tottenham at home, Bayern Munich at home, and Chelsea away. If the Gunners can win all their matches in November, they will be in an excellent position, and if Gyökeres finds his scoring boots in the Premier League, the Gunners could be unstoppable on the domestic front.