{"id":15176,"date":"2026-05-01T11:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/15176\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:36:47","slug":"arsenal-and-atletico-madrid-draw-1-1-in-first-leg-of-champions-league-semifinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/15176\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal and Atletico Madrid draw 1-1 in first leg of Champions League semifinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID (AP) \u2014 Atletico Madrid and Arsenal exchanged penalties in a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Champions League<\/a> semifinals on Wednesday, a gritty encounter with plenty of intensity from start to finish even if it lacked the fireworks of a nine-goal thriller in Paris.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain had edged Bayern Munich 5-4 in France in Tuesday\u2019s semifinal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Viktor Gy\u00f6keres put Arsenal ahead at the Metropolitano stadium by converting a 44th-minute penalty kick. Juli\u00e1n Alvarez equalized for Atletico \u2014 also from the penalty spot \u2014 in the 56th.<\/p>\n

Arsenal was awarded another penalty in the 78th after Eberechi Eze was brought down by David Hancko inside the area, but the call was overturned \u2014 several moments later \u2014 after a video review.<\/p>\n

The second leg is in London next Tuesday, when both clubs will try to return to the final after a long absence and earn a chance to win the European title for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere you have to suffer. Many teams have suffered here, including some of the best in the world,\u201d Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said. \u201cWe had some good moments in the match and moments where we had to suffer. The margins are very slim. We are in an incredible position \u2014 the semifinal of the Champions League. We have to play in front of our people \u2014 it\u2019s in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the league phase of the competition, Arsenal routed Atletico 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n

Atletico last made it to the Champions League final in 2016, when it lost to city rival Real Madrid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried,\u201d Atletico midfielder Koke Resurreccion said. \u201cWe started losing with that penalty, which was doubtful, but the team recovered and we could equalize with a penalty ourselves. We had the opportunities to win, but it will all be decided in the second leg. I think we played a good match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gy\u00f6keres broke the deadlock Wednesday from the penalty spot after he was brought down inside the area by Hancko, who was a bit late to the ball and slightly bumped the Arsenal striker from behind. The buildup came after Atletico lost possession in attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall I think it was a tough game, we know it\u2019s a tough place to come, but it\u2019s only halftime,\u201d Gy\u00f6keres said. \u201cWe know when we play at home, with our fans, it\u2019s going to be different for sure and we just have to do our job, be at our best, and for sure it\u2019s going to be a good game at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arsenal last appeared in the final in 2006, when it lost to Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Atletico\u2019s penalty came after a handball by Arsenal defender Ben White following a shot by Marcos Llorente. The call came after a video review. Alvarez converted the penalty with a firm shot for his 10th Champions League goal this season. He had to be replaced later in the second half with an apparent injury.<\/p>\n

The penalty was Arsenal\u2019s first attempt on target, but both teams had exchanged a few early chances. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had made a nice save on a shot by Alvarez, and Martin Odegaard \u2014 who also was later substituted \u2014 had his dangerous strike from inside the area blocked by Atletico defenders.<\/p>\n

Alvarez led the Atletico attack early but the connection with Antoine Griezmann and Ademola Lookman didn\u2019t work well until the second half.<\/p>\n

Alvarez almost curled in a free-kick strike after the break, and both Lookman and Griezmann had chances shortly afterward. Griezmann struck the post with a shot in the 63rd. Lookman, who had been doubtful to start because of a muscle injury, missed from close range later in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played a very good second half and had the chances to win the match,\u201d Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.<\/p>\n

Griezmann, who played his last Champions League match at home with Atletico<\/a>, was named the most valuable player. The France star will join MLS club Orlando City this summer.<\/p>\n

Many of the nearly 70,000 Atletico fans threw toilet paper from the stands before the match at the Metropolitano, creating a curtain of white paper.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID (AP) \u2014 Atletico Madrid and Arsenal exchanged penalties in a 1-1 draw in the first leg of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1309,1459,830,179,8868,2041,7413,1455,8867,8865,82,2900,3096,367,1743,396,8866],"class_list":{"0":"post-15176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-madrid","8":"tag-ademola-lookman","9":"tag-antoine-griezmann","10":"tag-arsenal-fc","11":"tag-atletico-madrid","12":"tag-ben-white","13":"tag-david-hancko","14":"tag-david-raya","15":"tag-diego-simeone","16":"tag-eberechi-eze","17":"tag-julin-alvarez","18":"tag-madrid","19":"tag-marcos-llorente","20":"tag-martin-odegaard","21":"tag-mikel-arteta","22":"tag-soccer","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-viktor-gykeres"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}