Published: April 30, 2026 at 10:43 am
It was a mouth-watering contest between Arsenal and Atletico de Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinal but there was nothing to separate the sides in this tactical battle and it set up a nail-biter in the deciding leg next week.
Clinical penalties from Viktor Gyökeres and Julián Alvarez ensured the first leg finished level on 1-1. Atletico were unable to make their second-half pressure count, with the crossbar denying Antoine Griezmann and David Raya making a smart stop to thwart Ademola Lookman.
Arsenal remain the only unbeaten team in this Champions League season with 10 wins and three draws in their 13 matches.
A string of half-chances marked out a tight first-half contest before Viktor Gyökeres’ clinical penalty sparked this semifinal first leg into life.
Piero Hincapié, Martin Ødegaard and Noni Madueke had come close for the Gunners while Atleti’s Julián Alvarez stung the palms of David Raya after some artful footwork in the 14th minute and later headed over from Matteo Ruggeri’s delivery.
Viktor Gyökeres puts Arsenal ahead
A first-half breakthrough seemed unlikely as those chances came and went but Gyökeres had other ideas, the Swedish forward dispatching powerfully from the spot on 44 minutes having been brought down by Dávid Hancko.
Atletico were level within 11 minutes of the restart, Alvarez, Ademola Lookman and Antoine Griezmann threatening as part of an electric start before the Argentinian forward ripped a perfect penalty into the top-left corner following a Ben White handball.
Julian Alvarez scored his 25th Champions League goal in his 41st appearance in the competition. He is the fastest Argentinian to that total, surpassing Lionel Messi’s mark of 25 goals in 42 games. Pics: Getty Images
Julián Álvarez scored his 25th Champions League goal in his 41st appearance in the competition. He is the fastest Argentinian to that total, surpassing Lionel Messi’s mark of 25 goals in 42 games.
Diego Simeone’s charges remained on top, Griezmann striking the crossbar and Lookman testing Raya in the ensuing 20 minutes, and enjoyed the best opportunity of the closing stages too, Nahuel Molina firing over in stoppage time.
“The first half was evenly matched. Maybe they had more possession, but they didn’t create many chances. They have a very strong squad, when the substitutes came on, they were better than the starters. Even so, we were better than them in the second half,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.
On the other hand, Arsenal coach was not too worried about the result. “We had a lot of positives, a lot of very good things that we did. This team (Atletico) – the history and the record that they have at home is incredible. So, we knew we were going to have to navigate that,” Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.
“In the first half we controlled the game quite well. We had a few good opportunities to score and we managed to score from one of them. In the second half, they started much better, and maybe deserved to get a goal eventually. Towards the end, I think we got a few okay chances,” Viktor Gyökeres told TNT Sports.
Paris edge Bayern 5-4
On the previous day, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé starred as holders Paris Saint-Germain edged Bayern München 5-4 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal at the Parc des Princes in what will go down as one of the most memorable matches in the competition’s history.
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“I’ve never seen a game with that rhythm before. You have to congratulate the opponents, the players. When you hold a 5-2 lead like that, the opponents take so many risks. They’re a top-level side. It was difficult and the second leg will be too. You have to enjoy it and you have to recognise this is just the third game Bayern have lost all season. We’re really happy and we deserved to win, but we also deserved a draw, and we would have even deserved to lose, because this game was that incredible,” said Paris coach Luis Enrique to Canal+.
“We suffered but we were dangerous. Five goals away from home in the Champions League normally means you’re out but the chances we had made us believe. If you’ve got nothing at the game at 5-2 then it’s hard to make a case to turn it around but being as dangerous as we were then I feel like it’s about getting your head back in the game and take our chances. We’re at home with 75,000 people in the stadium next week. We want that weight to be there and then anything can happen,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told Amazon Prime.
