Eberechi Eze opened the scoring on 36 minutes, finishing a move created by Leandro Trossard’s cut-back from the left. That opener crystallised Arsenal’s plan: use the narrow band of three attacking midfielders to receive between Leverkusen’s lines, then break quickly into the box before the back three could reset.
Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 set up with Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice as a double pivot behind a fluid line of Bukayo Saka, Eze and Trossard. Against Leverkusen’s 3-4-2-1, this gave Arsenal a free man in the half-spaces almost every time the ball was progressed cleanly through the first line. Rice often dropped alongside the centre-backs to help circulation, allowing Ben White and Piero Hincapié to push high and pin the Leverkusen wing-backs.
Without the ball, Arsenal’s mid-block was compact and aggressive. Viktor Gyökeres screened passes into Aleix García and Exequiel Palacios, while the three attacking midfielders curved their presses to show Leverkusen outside. Arsenal saw 4 of their attempts blocked by the Bayer Leverkusen defense, but the volume and quality of entries into the box (13 shots inside the area, 1.7 xG) showed how consistently they reached dangerous zones.
Leverkusen’s 3-4-2-1 enjoyed territorial control (58% possession, 535 passes at 88% accuracy) but lacked penetration. Their front three stayed relatively high, which left García and Palacios exposed against Arsenal’s central overloads. When the visitors did progress, Arsenal’s centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães held an aggressive line, stepping in front of Christian Kofane and Ibrahim Maza to prevent clean turns. Bayer Leverkusen saw 2 of their attempts blocked by the Arsenal defense, underlining how often attacks were forced into crowded central areas.
The engine room was decisive. Arsenal’s midfield quartet – Zubimendi, Rice, Eze and Trossard operating as an interior playmaker – controlled the game’s tempo and transitions. Rice, in particular, balanced his screening duties with well-timed forward runs. His reward came in the 63rd minute, when he arrived on the edge of the box to score the second goal, killing Leverkusen’s momentum just as their substitutions aimed to tilt the game.
From a statistical perspective, Arsenal’s lower possession but higher shot volume (21 total shots to 9, 12 on target to 2) reflected a clear tactical choice: concede harmless circulation, then spring forward with direct, high-quality attacks. David Raya’s two saves and a clean sheet aligned with a defensive structure that limited Leverkusen to 0.52 xG and mostly speculative efforts.
Verdict: In this 1/8 final at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s structured 4-2-3-1, powered by a dominant midfield quartet and incisive half-space play, translated into a controlled 2-0 win. Tactically, it positions them strongly in the tie and underlines their capacity to outmanoeuvre possession-heavy opponents at Champions League level.
