![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_GettyImages-2274171534.jpg\")
<\/p>\nARSENAL 1-0 ATLETICO MADRID (2-1): A solitary goal from Bukayo Saka on the brink of the half-time break saw the Gunners through to their first Champions League final since 2006<\/p>\n
21:53, 05 May 2026Updated 22:14, 05 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Arsenal are on their way to Budapest(Image: Gaspafotos\/MB Media\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Arsenal are through to the Champions League<\/a> final after grinding out a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid<\/a>. Last week’s dramatic 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital<\/a> set up a finely-poised second leg at a raucous Emirates.<\/p>\n It was decided by Bukayo Saka<\/a>, who on his second start since returning from injury, and while wearing the captain’s armband, was first to react to a Leandro Trossard<\/a> shot which had been saved by Jan Oblak<\/a>. There were appeals for offside, but Saka had kept himself behind Atletico’s last defender before converting the tap-in.<\/p>\n Arsenal<\/a> then defended resolutely to stave off wave after wave of attack, and they could’ve been further in front had Viktor Gyokeres<\/a> finished a gilt-edged chance. But one goal was enough, as Mikel Arteta’s<\/a> side got the better of Diego Simeone’s<\/a> to book their ticket to Budapest, where they’ll face either Bayern Munich<\/a> or holders Paris Saint-Germain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here are our player ratings from the Emirates.<\/p>\n WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football’s greatest tournament – Buy the Special Edition today<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE: Thierry Henry delivers powerful address after being abused on social media<\/a>READ MORE: Arsenal transfer officially confirmed as statement reveals \u00a360m release clause<\/a><\/p>\n David Raya – 7<\/p>\n His kicking has not been so good in the past few weeks but made top saves.<\/p>\n Ben White – 6<\/p>\n Still not back to his best but is slowly improving and has better quality on the ball.<\/p>\n William Saliba – 6<\/p>\n Lucky to get away with one big mistake – a sloppy back header – but had a let-off.<\/p>\n Gabriel Magalhaes – 8<\/p>\n Made a sensational, goal-saving challenge to bail out his defensive partner.<\/p>\n Riccardo Calafiori – 7<\/p>\n Good on the ball and his selection over Hincapie showed attacking intent.<\/p>\n Eberechi Eze – 6<\/p>\n Did OK, put in a shift but did not make things happen. Subbed before the hour<\/p>\n Declan Rice – 9<\/p>\n Covered every blade of grass. His drive and determination was fantastic.<\/p>\n Who was your Man of the Match? Let us know your pick in the comments section<\/a>.<\/p>\n Declan Rice was outstanding – as he was in Madrid last Wednesday(Image: David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Myles Lewis-Skelly – 8<\/p>\n This was the biggest selection call – and he repaid Arteta\u2019s faith again. Excellent.<\/p>\n Bukayo Saka – 8<\/p>\n The epitome of a big-game player. Captain, goalscorer and inspiration.<\/p>\n Viktor Gyokeres – 8<\/p>\n Excellent on Saturday and came to life as the game wore on. His shot led to opener.<\/p>\n Leandro Trossard – 8<\/p>\n This is more like it. Played well again. Worked tirelessly, contributed but missed big chance.<\/p>\n Myles Lewis-Skelly was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI(Image: Adrian Dennis\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Substitutes<\/p>\n Odegaard for Eze, 58 mins – 6<\/p>\n Madueke for Saka, 58 mins – 6<\/p>\n Hincapie for Calafiori, 58 mins – 7<\/p>\n Zubimendi for Lewis-Skelly, 74 mins – 6<\/p>\n Martinelli for Trossard, 83 mins – 6<\/p>\n Unused subs: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Mosquera, Norgaard, Dowman, Salmon, Havertz, Jesus<\/p>\n Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Oblak; Pubill, Le Normand (Molina, 57 mins), Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone (Sorloth, 57 mins), Koke, Llorente, Lookman (Cardoso, 57 mins); Griezmann (Baena, 67 mins), Alvarez (Almada, 67 mins)<\/p>\n Unused subs: Musso, Lenglet, Bonar, Gimenez, Diaz, Vargas, Mendoza<\/p>\n Man of the Match: Declan Rice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Join our new WhatsApp community<\/a> and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us – and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARSENAL 1-0 ATLETICO MADRID (2-1): A solitary goal from Bukayo Saka on the brink of the half-time break…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[830,179,8868,7414,7413,7415,8867,6581,793,9769,82,3096,367,7412,7418],"class_list":{"0":"post-17708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-madrid","8":"tag-arsenal-fc","9":"tag-atletico-madrid","10":"tag-ben-white","11":"tag-bukayo-saka","12":"tag-david-raya","13":"tag-declan-rice","14":"tag-eberechi-eze","15":"tag-gabriel-magalhaes","16":"tag-gabriel-martinelli","17":"tag-leandro-trossard","18":"tag-madrid","19":"tag-martin-odegaard","20":"tag-mikel-arteta","21":"tag-viktor-gyokeres","22":"tag-william-saliba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17708","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=17708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_GettyImages-2274692762.jpg\")
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