6.
9:09 p.m
Now the Gunners appear in the opposing penalty area for the first time. Noni Madueke advances from the right to the baseline and places the ball high towards the second post, where Gabriel Martinelli narrowly misses, but Piero Hincapié can still volley from a very acute angle with his left. However, the shot is a case for the stands.
4.
9:06 p.m
The Londoners are also showing nerves in view of the considerable volume that echoes from the packed stands into the surrounding area. Due to several bad passes and slight inaccuracies, Arsenal can hardly get out of their own third.
1.
9:03 p.m
The first goal of the game belongs to the home team. Hincapié slips away in the build-up game and the Madrilenians immediately swarm. Alvarez shoots directly from 19 meters with his right, but Rice stands well and blocks the shot.
1.
9:01 p.m
Kick-off in the Metropolitano. The Colchoneros wear their red and white home jerseys over dark blue pants. The guests from London play in dark blue jerseys over white shorts. Let’s go
1.
9:01 p.m
Game start
8:31 p.m
It is also interesting that in this duel the two teams that have played the most competitive games in the Champions League (or European Cup) without ever having won the pot collide. Today is Atlético Madrid’s 191st competitive game in the competition. For the Gunners it was even the 224th match. There was only one direct duel – the aforementioned 4-0 home win for the Londoners in the league phase. In addition, both teams faced each other in the Europa League semi-finals in 2017/18. After the first leg on the Thames ended 1-1, a 1-0 home win in Madrid was enough for the Colchoneros to advance.
8:20 p.m
Although progress was no longer at risk in the end, the Madrilenians had to admit defeat to FC Barcelona 1-2 in the quarter-finals in front of their home crowd. That was a rare home defeat for the Colchoneros, who are otherwise strong at home and rarely let anything go against representatives of the Premier League. In the knockout rounds of the Champions League alone, an English club came to the Metropolitano six times (or before that to the Vicente Calderón). The Rojiblancos have not lost a single one of these six home games (three wins, three draws).
8:09 p.m
Internationally, the Gunners, who also won the league phase with 24 out of 24 possible points and were able to achieve a 4-0 home win against today’s semi-final opponent Atlético Madrid, are on a run. The Londoners did not lose a single one of the twelve Champions League games in the 2025/26 season (ten wins, two draws), and they also only conceded five goals in total. In the duel with the Colchoneros, the otherwise powerful Atleti offense achieved an xG value of just 0.32.
19:57
While the Londoners are still hoping for their first championship title in 22 years in the Premier League, it is already clear to Atlético Madrid that the only thing left to win is the Champions League. In league play, the Rojiblancos are 25 points short of first place. Added to this is the recent loss of the Copa del Rey final on penalties against Real Sociedad. Arsenal FC not only failed in the FA Cup against second division team Southampton, but also had to admit defeat 2-0 to Manchester City in the EFL Cup final.
19:52
Arsenal FC have recently suffered some setbacks in their fight for the title at national level, but were also able to pick up a win at the weekend. The Gunners beat Newcastle United 1-0. Mikel Arteta then changes his first team to two positions: Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyökeres start for Eberechi Eze (bench) and Kai Havertz (muscle injury).
7:49 p.m
Let’s start by taking a look at the lineups that have just been published. Compared to the dress rehearsal, which was successful against Bilbao on Saturday with a 3-2 win, the Colchoneros have made four changes to the starting eleven: Johnny Cardoso, Dávid Hancko, Julián Alvarez and Ademola Lookman start for Alexander Sørloth, Álex Baena, Clément Lenglet (all three on the bench) and Pablo Barrios (thigh injury).
19:46
Can yesterday’s shooting match between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich be topped? Considering that in the Gunners’ four knockout games there were just five goals in total (4:1), this can be highly doubted. On the other hand, Atlético Madrid in particular had very lively games with 34 goals scored and 26 goals conceded in 14 Champions League games in the 2025/26 season. So the question is rather which approach will work tonight.
7:45 p.m
Good evening and welcome from the Estadio Metropolitano. Atlético Madrid will host Arsenal FC in the Champions League semi-finals here today at 9 p.m.
