Atletico Madrid and Arsenal exchanged penalties on Wednesday when Julian Alvarez’s second-half penalty canceled out Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half goal to give the two sides a 1-1 draw in a Champions League semi-final first leg that simmered rather than fizzled.
After Tuesday’s nine-goal thriller between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Bayern Munich in the first semi-final in France, the Metropolitano were treated to a much more tactical affair, although the home crowd did their best to provide some early theater by greeting the teams with an avalanche of toilet paper thrown from the stands onto the pitch.
Atletico had more possession early on, but gave Arsenal the lead in the 44th minute when Gyokeres was brought down in the penalty area by David Hancko. The Swedish striker fired the penalty past Jan Oblak to send Arsenal ahead at half-time.
Atletico equalized in the 56th minute after VAR spotted a Ben White handball in the penalty area from Marcos Llorente’s shot. Alvarez fired the resulting penalty into the top left corner, past David Raya.
Antoine Griezmann rattled the crossbar moments later as Arsenal were awarded a late penalty which was overturned by the referee after a VAR review.
«We tried. We fell behind early on after a penalty which I thought was a bit questionable. We had chances to win it but it will all be decided in the second leg. They defend very well and have some very fast players up front,» Atletico captain Koke told Movistar Plus.
«We failed to finish the match with the chances we had. We hope the match in London is not our last in the Champions League this season.»
The winner after the second leg on May 5 will face PSG or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest on May 30, with PSG leading 5-4 from the first leg.
Arsenal, who managed to combine the equalizer with the Premier League title race against Manchester City, carried out a weakened attack. Bukayo Saka was only fit enough for the bench after his recent return from an Achilles problem, and Eberechi Eze also started among the substitutes after his early withdrawal against Newcastle on Saturday, while Kai Havertz did not travel after picking up an injury in the same match.
Atletico started with bite, aiming high and rising to the challenge with Griezmann and Alvarez in charge. Alvarez forced Raya into a great one-handed save in the 14th minute with a fierce strike from the edge of the box.
Arsenal remained dangerous at half-time and gradually grew into the match as Atletico dropped deeper and lost some of their early momentum, giving Arsenal the opener shortly before half-time.
The hosts tried to play out from the back and surrendered possession, and Arsenal responded sharply through Martin Zubimendi and Martin Odegaard, who found Gyokeres in the area. Hancko then brought the Swede down from behind and conceded a penalty that Gyokeres thundered past Oblak.
Diego Simeone’s side responded after the break and almost leveled three minutes after the restart when Alvarez curled a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area just past the right post.
The equalizer came in the 56th minute and saw Mikel Arteta send Eze on for Odegaard immediately afterwards, but Atletico continued to press. Griezmann hit the crossbar in the 63rd minute, while Ademola Lookman squandered a great chance in the 74th by turning sharply in the penalty area before firing weakly at Raya.
Arsenal thought they had won another penalty when referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot after Hancko appeared to kick Eze, but he overturned the decision after a VAR review.
“I think we controlled the game pretty well in the first half,” Gyokeres said. “They started much better in the second half, maybe deserved a goal, and overall it was a tough game.
«It will certainly be different at home with our fans. We have to do our job and be at our best.»
Published on April 30, 2026
