Arsenal at Atletico Madrid match thread: sufferball?
There is so much still to play for!
MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 29: General view inside the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Semi Final First Leg match between Atletico de Madrid and Arsenal FC at Metropolitano Stadium on April 29, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Julian Finney - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) | UEFA via Getty Images Arsenal face Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal. Today’s match is in Madrid with the return leg in London, a perk the Gunners earned by topping the League Phase.
En route to finishing first, Arsenal downed this same Atletico side 4-0 at the Emirates in October. But as we learned last season when the Gunners handled PSG in the fall only to go out of the CL to them in the spring, teams change and the knockout rounds are a different beast. Diego Simeone’s side have put together a subpar campaign (by their usual standards) in La Liga but have been quite good in the Champions League.
Arsenal-linked Julian Alvarez, who recently returned to training and the substitutes bench following a muscle issue, has led the way in Europe with 9 goals and 5 assists in 13 matches. Six foot-five striker Alexander Sorloth has chipped in with 6 goals of his own to go along with 12 league tallies. Surprisingly and uncharacteristically, it’s been the defense that has let Atletico down.
Simeone’s club have cultivated a reputation over the Argentinian’s time in charge of being combative, well-organized, and stingy. This season, they’re conceding nearly 2 goals per game in the CL and slightly more than a goal per game in La Liga. They’ve had enough scoring pop to get the job done so far, although I’d suggest that Arsenal’s defense might prove a sterner test than those of Club Brugge, Tottenham, and Barcelona.