Arsenal's European dreams dashed by old foe Diego Costa

Arsenal's hopes of ending the Arsene Wenger era with Europa League glory are over following a 1-0 defeat in a tight semi-final, second leg at Atletico Madrid.

Diego Costa, who was so often the scourge of the Gunners during his time at Chelsea, struck the only goal of the night on the stroke of half time to clinch a 2-1 success on aggregate and a place in the final for Diego Simeone's men.

Arsenal had recovered well from the early loss of Laurent Koscielny to a suspected torn Achilles injury, but they struggled to test Jan Oblak in the home goal despite creating good openings for Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey.

Atletico, who haven't conceded a goal at the Estadio Metropolitano since January, were far from their best but stood firm once they opened the scoring and will now meet Marseille in Lyon on May 16 in what is their fifth European final in the last nine seasons.

Arsenal have little left to play for, but will look to clinch a top-six finish in the Premier League in Wenger's final home match against Burnley on Sunday before trips to Leicester City and Huddersfield Town bring down the curtain on the Frenchman's reign.

The love story has a heartbreaking end. After 22 years the Arsene-Arsenal relationship will end on a low note. Wenger had spoken of his desire to end the 'love story' well ahead of the game, but in truth they were always up against it following Antoine Griezmann's late goal in the first leg at Emirates Stadium. The lack of game-management and leadership, coupled with a soft shell when the stakes are high has been a problem for this Arsenal side for much longer than this tie. Two moments when they switched off proved costly over 180 minutes and means Wenger will sign off with what will surely go down as his worst campaign at the helm. The Gunners will start a fresh era under their new manager next term without Champions League football and Wenger will now see out his final few matches in charge in what will be a sad conclusion for a man who did so much for Arsenal and English football in over two decades in North London.

Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid). The rock at the heart of Atletico's well-drilled defence. The Uruguayan made countless interceptions and while Griezmann's first-leg goal and assist for Costa did the damage on the scoresheet, the defender's contribution was just as crucial over the whole tie.

ATLETICO MADRID: Oblak 7, Thomas 7, Giménez 7, Godín 8, Lucas 7, Gabi 7, Saúl 6, Koke 6, Vitolo 6; Griezmann 7, Diego Costa 7. Subs: Correa 6, Torres n/a, Savic n/a.

ARSENAL: Ospina 6, Bellerin 6, Mustafi 7, Koscielny 5, Monreal 6; Xhaka 7, Ramsey 7, Wilshere 6, Ozil 6, Welbeck 6, Lacazette 6. Subs: Chambers 6, Mkhitaryan 6.

6' - ATLETICO MADRID CHANCE! Costa bullies Koscielny and Monreal before surging in to the right of the area. He moves in for the kill but skews his short horribly wide. Let off for the visitors.

11' - KOSCIELNY INJURY BLOW. Arsenal are forced to replace their skipper with Calum Chambers after the France international went down in agony clutching his Achilles. No-one appeared to be near him and given the pain etched on his face, it looks bleak for his World Cup hopes.

28' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Lacazette springs free in the area on the left side. He is forced wide by Oblak, but should have got his shot away earlier.

45+2' - GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-0 Arsenal - (Atletico lead 2-1 on aggregate). Costa races onto Griezmann's through pass, holds off Bellerin and fires a rising shot over Ospina.

53' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Wilshere's miscued shot from 20 yards falls kindly for Ramsey, but it won't sit for the Welshman and he skews a gilt-edged chance wide.

63' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Oblak gets down well to get a big hand on Xhaka's low 25-yard drive. Mustafi heads the resulting corner over the top.

72' - ARSENAL CHANCE! Mkhitaryan with a lovely touch to tee up a volley 20 yards out, but it flashes just over the top of the crossbar.

Diego Costa has scored four goals in seven appearances versus Arsenal in all competitions, including netting in each of his last two games against them

Arsenal are winless in their last seven European visits to Spain (D2 L5).

Atletico have reached their third Europa League final, which is a joint-record in the competition (Sevilla have also played in three).

After progressing from their first six semi-final ties in European competition, Arsenal have now been eliminated in each of the last two (2008/09 v Manchester United in the Champions League and this year v Atlético Madrid).