Atlético Madrid and Arsenal FC have postponed the decision about reaching the final of the Champions League until the second leg – a strange referee decision also contributed to the high tension.
In the 1-1 draw on Wednesday evening (April 29, 2026) in the Metropolitano in Madrid, Viktor Gyökeres gave the guests from London the lead with a hand penalty in the 44th minute. Julián Alvarez also equalized from the penalty spot in the 56th minute. There should have been a third penalty a quarter of an hour before the end, but referee Danny Makkelie surprisingly took it back after VAR intervention.
Hardly anyone expected a wild spectacle similar to that of the evening before in Paris St. Germain’s epic 5:4 against FC Bayern – and in fact both teams paid significantly more attention to an orderly and disciplined defense than their possible final opponents. Nevertheless, there were good moments of transition early on on both sides, which led to shots after just a few touches of the ball: After a slip by Piero Hincapié, Alvarez’s attempt was caught by Declan Rice (1st), shortly afterwards Hincapié on the other side only hit the side netting after a long cross from Noni Mandueke.
Raya strong against Alvarez
There was real danger for the first time after a quarter of an hour. Alvarez shot hard from 18 meters, but David Raya dived into the right corner and prevented Arsenal from going behind. Immediately on the counterattack, the Gunners had the chance to make it 1-0, but at the last second Johnny Cardoso threw himself into Martin Odegaard’s shot.
Arsenal again put pressure on Jan Oblak’s goal in the 30th minute, but Mandueke curled the ball just past the left post after a Michael Olise-style solo effort. Afterwards, both teams largely neutralized each other again in the few exciting areas of the pitch, and there were many signs that the game would be 0-0 at the break.
Hancko clumsy against Gyökeres
An extremely clumsy defensive action by Atlético central defender David Hancko then put Diego Simeone’s team behind: he pushed Arsenal center forward Gyökeres over from behind so clumsily that referee Makkelie, after a moment’s hesitation, pointed to the penalty spot. Gyökeres stepped up himself, shot hard but out of place – Oblak was in the right corner but couldn’t get his hands on the ball quickly enough.
After the break, the Rojiblancos pushed for an equalizer, but were initially unlucky with a double chance: Ademola Lookman was denied by Raya, and the keeper would have had no chance with Antoine Griezmann’s rebound, but Gabriel Magalhaes artistically flicked the ball over his own goal (53′) for a corner.
Equalizer also from the penalty spot
And this corner had consequences. Marcos Llorente shot at the Arsenal goal from the edge of the penalty area, and Ben White clearly extended his arm when attempting to block. Surprisingly, Makkelie needed the video evidence, but there was no alternative to the penalty decision: Alvarez chased the ball with conviction into the left corner, Raya didn’t even react.
And the keeper remained in focus because the people in front of him stopped any offensive efforts. After a good half hour it was 5:6 from Atlético’s point of view after shots on goal, in the 75th minute it was 17:6 for the hosts. But what the Madrilenians did with these 12-0 shots on goal in a row was negligent: Griezmann hit the crossbar (63′), immediately missed a dream goal with a volley, Lookman failed to get past Raya (74′), Simeone despaired on the sideline.
Makkelie takes back a clear penalty
And the total passivity of the guests in the second half was almost rewarded. In their first real attack a quarter of an hour before the end, Eberechi Eze broke into the penalty area, passed the ball past Hancko, who again acted extremely clumsily: The Slovak missed the ball, but hit Eze on the ankle – Makkelie immediately and rightly pointed to the spot.
Why – after Simeone’s usual wild protests – the VAR turned on and Makkelie actually took the penalty back remained a huge mystery. Although Eze’s fall was a bit too theatrical compared to Hancko’s contact, the kick to the ankle was clearly visible in all the slow motion shots. Afterwards both teams were satisfied with the draw, only in the 7th minute of stoppage time did substitute Nahuel Molina miss the match point with an 18-meter shot.
