Champions League
Arsenal beats Atlético and advances to the final
Updated May 5, 2026 – 11:04 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Before kick-off the starting position was completely open. In the end, one goal is enough and Arsenal become the first club to reach the premier class final.
Arsenal FC reached the final of the Champions League for the first time since 2006. The “Gunners” beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 (1-0) in the semi-final second leg; the first leg ended 1-1. Man of the match was Bukayo Saka, who shot Arsenal into the lead shortly before half-time (44th minute).
It is the Londoners’ second appearance in the Champions League final. In 2006, the club with the then German national goalkeeper Jens Lehmann lost 2-1 against FC Barcelona. Atlético Madrid, on the other hand, has to continue to wait for its first premier class crown; the Spaniards were denied their third final appearance after 2014 and 2016 under their coach Diego Simeone.
Arsenal will face either FC Bayern or defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on May 30th, who will determine the second finalist on Wednesday (from 9 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). The German record champions have to make up for a 4:5 defeat from the first duel.
The German national player Kai Havertz, who scored Chelsea FC to Champions League victory in 2021 and has recently been plagued by injury problems, missed the first leg with an injury and was now back in the Arsenal squad. But it wasn’t enough for use.
Team manager Mikel Arteta emphasized that Arsenal had been working towards this final chance for 20 years: “It’s in our hands.” On Tuesday night, supporters even set off fireworks near the Atlético Hotel to keep the Spaniards awake.
Nevertheless, the Atlético professionals seemed wide awake. In partly pouring rain, the two rivals played a fast-paced game in which there were largely no highlights before the break. For a long time there was only a hint of dangerous action and only excitement when Arsenal attacker Leandro Trossard went down in the penalty area after a challenge with Antoine Griezmann. The whistle from referee Daniel Siebert from Berlin remained silent.
Then Arsenal struck. Madrid keeper Jan Oblak could only fend off a sharp shot from Trossard. Saka shifted fastest and finished from close range.
