MADRID, April 30 — Julian Alvarez’s penalty secured Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in a nervy Champions League semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday.

Viktor Gyokeres sent the Premier League leaders ahead from the spot just before the interval after he was fouled, but Alvarez followed suit 10 minutes into the second half after Ben White’s handball.

Arsenal were upset at a late penalty decision being overturned following a VAR review when David Hancko made contact with Eberechi Eze in the area.

“I’m incredibly fuming,” said Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta. “It’s a clear and very obvious penalty.”

Atletico had the better for long periods but Arsenal’s solid defending helped them leave the Spanish capital in a good position to return to the Champions League final 20 years after their last appearance.

“Here, you have to suffer,” Arteta told Movistar. “Many teams have suffered here, including some of the best in the world.

“We had some good moments in the match and moments where we had to suffer. The margins are very slim.”

Atletico captain Koke said his side could be proud of how they played in the second half.

“We were the team we have to be – if we play at this level we can win,” Koke told Movistar.

“From my point of view they didn’t create much danger against us... the team defended well and they just had that penalty.”

What the game lacked in the dizzying goal rush of Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the other semi-final the night before, it replaced with tension and a desperation not to fall behind.

Toilet paper rained down from the stands of the Metropolitano stadium minutes before kick-off, in a striking – if wasteful – display, which invited cynical jokes from some quarters about the calibre of the spectacle ahead.

In a tussle between arguably the continent’s two biggest teams never to lay a finger on the trophy neither wanted to blink first.

Atletico still have an old-style defensive reputation but pinned Mikel Arteta’s miserly Arsenal back in the early stages, with David Raya tipping Alvarez’s shot around the post.

The Gunners, a long way from Arteta’s eve-of-the-game demand they dominate proceedings, looked to smash and grab.

Noni Madueke, starting on Arsenal’s right flank with Bukayo Saka only fit for the bench, hammered just wide as last year’s beaten semi-finalists sporadically emerged from their half.

The next time they did, Gyokeres won a penalty. The Swedish striker, who might not have started if Kai Havertz had been fit, exchanged passes with Martin Zubimendi and Hancko clumsily shoved him in the back from behind.

Diego Simeone and Atletico veteran Antoine Griezmann begged for the decision to be reviewed but VAR saw no reason to intervene.

Gyokeres took the spot-kick himself, walloping it past Jan Oblak, who dived the right way but stood no chance of keeping it out.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes walk with teammates after the match at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on April 29, 2026. — Reuters pic

Atletico battle back

Three-time runners-up Atletico, back in the semi-finals for the first time in nine years, came out guns blazing in the second half.

Raya saved Ademola Lookman’s drive with Gabriel blocking Griezmann’s follow-up.

The hosts pulled level from the penalty spot after White handled Marcos Llorente’s shot, the ball bouncing up and hitting his arm, which was away from his body.

Alvarez took it, and having missed in Atletico’s Copa del Rey final shoot-out defeat earlier in April, this time made no mistake with an unforgiving blast rivalling Gyokeres’s first-half effort.

MLS-bound Griezmann looped a shot off the crossbar and then sent the rebound off target as Atletico turned the screw in pursuit of an advantage to take into next Tuesday’s second leg.

“This is what we have to do in the away game,” said Griezmann. “(The second half) was much better in terms of intensity.”

Nigeria international Lookman twice came close and could end up ruing his missed chances, kept out by the alert Raya.

Arsenal thought they had won a second penalty when substitute Eze went down under a sluggish Hancko challenge but to their fury the referee changed his mind after a VAR review, deciding the Slovakian defender’s contact was minimal.

Arsenal next take on Fulham as they continue their battle with Manchester City for the Premier League title, while with little to play for in La Liga Simeone will rotate heavily, before this tie is decided in London. — AFP

LONDON, April 28 — Declan Rice has urged Arsenal to embrace the weight of history in their chase for a first Champions League crown ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final trip to Atletico Madrid.

The Gunners travel to the Spanish capital for the first leg looking to move a step closer to only their second Champions League final appearance.

Mikel Arteta’s side have been labelled English football’s nearly men after three successive runners-up finishes in the Premier League.

They have fallen short in Europe as well, losing 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals last season and bowing out against Bayern Munich in the 2024 quarter-finals.

Arsenal have never won Europe’s elite club competition, with their lone final ending in defeat against Barcelona in 2006.

The Premier League has become the London club’s holy grail after their painful streak of near-misses in recent years.

But lifting the Champions League for the first time would be an equally fitting riposte to those doubting the mental strength of Arteta’s men.

Just seven games separate Arsenal from the club’s greatest ever season.

They sit three points clear of second-placed Manchester City in the Premier League title race, with four matches to play and five for Pep Guardiola’s men.

Three games remain in the Champions League if Arsenal reach the final against PSG or Bayern in Budapest on May 30.

Rice wants his team-mates to prove their past experiences have made them battle-hardened for their pursuit of history.

“We’ve played in tough games in the last three or four years at the highest level, so we know what to expect and what’s to come,” the midfielder said.

“That’s what it’s been all season, and that’s what we want it to be towards the end of the season.

“We’re Champions League semi-finalists, let’s embrace it, enjoy it and bring it on.”

Havertz, Eze doubts

After losing two high-stakes showdowns with City recently – a 2-0 League Cup final defeat and 2-1 loss in the Premier League – the jury remains out on Arsenal’s ability to get over the line when it matters most.

A fraught 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday was hardly a convincing response to the cynics.

But it did end a two-game losing run in the league and eased a little of the tension after four defeats in their previous six matches in all competitions.

Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of Eberechi Eze and Kai Havertz for the trip to Madrid after they limped off last weekend.

Eze had taken his goal tally for the season to 10 with a sublime strike against Newcastle.

The England midfielder has been a rare source of attacking inspiration in a side whose success has been build on a solid defensive foundations.

And Rice is desperate for his international team-mate to be fit to face Diego Simeone’s side.

“That’s what he’s been brought here to do. I said a few weeks ago, his ball striking is unbelievable,” he said.

“What a player, what a guy. He’s going to be massive for us these next few weeks. We really need him.” — AFP

LONDON, April 27 — European champions Arsenal capitalised on two terrible defensive blunders by Lyon on Sunday to come from behind and win the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final 2-1.

The French league leaders went ahead in the 18th minute at the Emirates Stadium when Jule Brand scored with the visitors’ only shot on target in the first half.

But the Gunners rallied afer the break and levelled courtesy of an own goal from Ingrid Engen after goalkeeper Christiane Endler failed to gather the ball.

They took the lead when Olivia Smith took advantage of another mix-up at the back late in the game.

The two sides met at the same stage of the competition last season, with Arsenal winning 5-3 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy with victory over Barcelona in the final.

Lyon drew first blood on Sunday when Brand surged forward and cut inside before beating Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar with a confident finish.

The home side thought they had been offered a way back into the game when they were awarded a penalty five minutes into the second half but the decision was overturned after a VAR check.

However, Arsenal were level in the 58th minute when Mariona Caldentey’s low free-kick somehow made its way into the net.

Lyon’s Endler mishandled the ball as Arsenal forward Stina Blackstenius darted into the six-yard box and the unfortunate Engen touched it into her own goal.

Kadidiatou Diani rattled the crossbar as the French team threatened to re-take the lead but it was Arsenal who scored again.

Endler and Engen collided after a moment of miscommunication and Smith collected the loose ball to slot into an empty net in the 83rd minute.

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers warned her team still had work to do.

“It’s only half-time but if you look at the game, a lot of bits played out how we wanted it,” she told the BBC.

“There was a phase in the first half where we wanted more aggression in our press and I think we had some great solutions at half-time.”

Lyon forward Ada Hegerberg described the goals her team conceded as “brutal”.

“You know in sports you get punished, but we stick together,” she said. “We have to accept it but find ways to move on.

“It’s important to take a step back and keep perspective.”

The second leg takes place in Lyon next weekend.

Bayern and Barcelona drew 1-1 in the other semi-final on Saturday. — AFP