Arsenal booked their spot in the Champions League final with victory against Atletico Madrid but the Spanish city’s mayor claims that the result was already decided
17:03, 06 May 2026Updated 17:05, 06 May 2026
Arsenal reached the Champions League final with victory against Atletico Madrid(Image: Getty Images)
Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has sensationally claimed that Arsenal’s Champions League win against Atletico Madrid was decided by UEFA corruption. The Gunners reached the competition’s final with victory against the Spanish side on Tuesday night.
Bukayo Saka’s goal saw the North London side seal a 2-1 aggregate win after a draw at the Metropolitano last week. And while Arsenal will be celebrating sealing their spot in their first Champions League final since 2006, some in the Spanish capital have been left far from happy.
City mayor Martinez-Almeida bizzarely claimed that the result was already decided, with UEFA ensuring Atletico did not reach the final. Speaking in a sensational rant on Wednesday, he said: “Well look, what I’m saying is that when I saw the draw I thought we’d get Arsenal and I was wrong,.
“We got to play against UEFA. And UEFA has made it clear that they didn’t want Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final. It’s incomprehensible that they appointed a German referee when Spain and Germany are playing for the fifth Champions League spot.
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“Who, other than UEFA, would think of appointing a German referee as both the main referee and the VAR referee? And yesterday there were plays that weren’t due to the referee being more or less bad, but in my opinion, due to a predetermined decision aimed at harming Atletico Madrid.”
One decision that left Martinez-Almeida baffled was the call to not award Atleti a penalty for Riccardo Calafiori’s apparent push on Giuliano Simeone. The linesman had already flagged him offside, albeit it was shown on replays that he was potentially on.
He added: “It’s incomprehensible that there isn’t a single replay of Giuliano’s offside when it was a clear penalty. We later saw on social media that it wasn’t offside and that he left his own half.
“In a match broadcast by so many television cameras, why didn’t the production team show a replay to determine whether it was offside or not? Because it wasn’t offside, and they refused to admit it.”
Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has hit out after Arsenal’s win against Atletico Madrid(Image: Getty Images)
Atletico then wanted a penalty after Calafiori appeared to stand on Antoine Griezmann’s foot but the referee was once again unmoved. “It’s blatant, the referee blows his whistle once Griezmann falls, Pubill’s foul doesn’t exist,” the Madrid mayor said about that decision. “And then the added time is clear proof that the referee wanted the match to end as quickly as possible and for Arsenal to go to Budapest instead of Atletico Madrid.”
He continued: “There’s intent in my opinion. I insist, Arsenal could have been beaten, but we couldn’t beat the UEFA Cup and it was impossible to beat it. We drew the UEFA Cup, not Arsenal, in the draw to go to Budapest.
“That’s why I think we Atletico fans are proud of our team because they competed not against Arsenal, but against UEFA. You can beat Arsenal over 180 minutes, but you can’t beat UEFA.
“And UEFA set in motion the entire machinery to prevent Atletico Madrid from advancing in yesterday’s match, and the referee was the one who carried out that will.”
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