Atlético Madrid 1-1 Arsenal: A saga in which two penalties were awarded and one canceled resulted in Mikel Arteta’s side winning from the Spanish capital with a draw.
Arsenal had a penalty overturned late on (Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Arsenal had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, regretting a penalty that was overturned. Victor Goqueres put the Gunners ahead just before half-time, but his goal was quickly canceled out by Julian Alvarez in the second period.
It’s unlikely to match Tuesday’s thrilling nine-goal clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in France, but there was still plenty of drama at the deafeningly loud Metropolitano. Arsenal thought they had earned a third penalty in the dying minutes, but referee Danny McCarey changed his decision after a VAR review.
In the end, neither team could find a way to break through their opponent’s brave defense from open play. All to play next Tuesday when the teams meet again in north London.
Here are six stories from the Metropolitano.
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1. Turf war
Before kickoff, some strange news arrived. Arsenal have asked UEFA to measure the length of Atletico’s grass, as Barcelona did before the quarter-finals.
For context, Barça were not happy with the quality of the pitch they played against Atlético earlier this year and had doubts about the grass before last month’s quarter-final second leg. However, Arsenal received a red card as the result was 26mm, which was between UEFA’s margin of 21mm and 30mm.
Who will advance to the finals? Let us know your predictions in the comments section.
Arsenal wanted pitch check (Image: CBS Sports)
2. Arteta’s tactical tweaks
Arteta has not had much access to his first-choice midfield this season, but the trio of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Martin Zvimendi are now fit for a run-in. However, it didn’t line up in the usual way.
The best example of Arteta’s tactical ingenuity was his goal-kicking. Rice was at the base of the midfield, Odegaard to the side, and Zvimendy in the highest position of the three.
It was therefore no surprise that most of Arsenal’s attacks were from wide ranges. Gokeres broke the deadlock when Noni Maduke went close to scoring with a long-range shot.
Mikel Arteta has changed the dynamics in midfield (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
3. Gokeres shows Atlético what they’re missing
Did you know? Arsenal’s current sporting director, Andrea Berta, tried to sign Goqueres when he was head of recruitment at Atletico from 2017 to 2025.
So Berta would have been rather pleased when the Gunners’ £64m signing drew a clumsy challenge from David Hanko and triggered the resulting penalty (too strong for Jan Oblak). The jury is still very much out on Gokeres, but some good play from the centre-forward gave Arsenal a valuable lead towards the end of the first half.
Victor Gokeres put Arsenal ahead from the spot (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
4. White lends a hand to Atlético
Atlético’s aim paid off early in the second half. Marcos Llorente attempted a volley from the edge of the box which went wide of the goal, but the ball hit White’s arm and Los Rojiblancos appealed.
Referee McCarey was immediately ordered to go to the VAR monitor and it didn’t take long for him to make a decision. Álvarez sunk the ball with a penalty shot, outdoing a strong finish from Goqueres. David Raya didn’t move an inch as the ball crashed into the top right corner.
Julian Alvarez punishes Ben White’s handball with a great penalty (Image: David Ramos – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
5. Do you have Fulham in mind?
It was a strange reaction to Arteta’s goal. Within 12 minutes of Arsenal’s lead disappearing, the Gunners manager made four changes.
Was Saturday’s home game against Fulham the reason Odegaard, Gokeres and others were sent off? Bukayo Saka has entered the fray having yet to make a start since being injured in March.
6. Arsenal denied controversial second-half penalty
David Hanko made contact with Ebelesi Eze but VAR was not satisfied (Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
After equalizing, Atlético looked more likely to score. However, Arsenal’s fresh legs, especially Eberechi Eze’s, made an impact.
The midfielder became the second Gunners player to draw a foul from Hanko in the box, with McCarey pointing to the spot for the third time that night. Once again, VAR wanted to have its say.
After a review, Dutch officials decided there had been insufficient communication from the Atlético players and the decision was overturned, much to the elation of an ebullient Diego Simeone.
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