Atletico Battle Back To Hold Arsenal

(Photo by Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Atletico Madrid battled back to secure a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final.

UEFA Champions League

Result: Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal

Date: 29 April 2026

Venue: Riyadh Air Metropolitano

Gunners coach Mikel Arteta went a for a front-three of Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli as Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze surprisingly started on the bench.

Los Rojiblancos looked to make a lively start to the encounter, with Julian Alvarez carving out an opening after 14 minutes but his shot drew a fine save from Gunners goalkeeper David Raya.

While the Gunners struggled to carve out chances, the Argentine World Cup winner went even closer for the home side on 29 minutes after meeting a cross with a powerful header that sailed inches over the crossbar.

Arsenal were given a lifeline against the run of play two minutes before the halftime break after being awarded a penalty for David Hancko’s clumsy challenge on Gyokeres, who stepped up and rifled home the spot-kick to give his side the lead.

Atletico came out firing in the second half and were awarded a penalty of their own ten minutes in following the intervention from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a handball from Ben White. Alvarez took responsibility and sent a powerful strike into the top corner to level matters.

Arteta responded with a triple change for Arsenal as Martinelli, Madueke and Gyokeres made way for Leandro Trossard, Saka and Gabriel Jesus for the final 20 minutes of the second half.

Atletico nearly completed the turnaround on 74 minutes when Marcos Llorente did well to pick out Ademola Lookman, who skipped past one challenge in the box but ended up firing straight at Raya.

There was a third penalty in the game when the referee pointed to the spot after Hancko was deemed to have fouled Eze in the box in the 80th minute. However, after checking the VAR monitor, the referee decided to change his decision and wave away the spot-kick.

Both sides pushed for a winning goal in the closing stages of the second half, but neither were able to hit the back of the net, with Nahuel Molina going closest in second-half stoppage time with a first-time effort that sailed inches over the crossbar.

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