Atletico Madrid have responded well to falling behind to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie, having levelled up proceedings at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano so soon after the half time interval ended.
On 44 minutes, Arsenal took the lead from the penalty spot after David Hancko upended Viktor Gyokeres, who dusted himself off to open the scoring. Atleti need a fast start to the second half in order to get themselves back in the game, and they’ve got it courtesy of a spot-kick of their own.
Alvarez responds for Atleti with emphatic penalty
VAR intervened to call a penalty in Atleti’s favour following a handball by Arsenal defender Ben White, which allowed Julian Alvarez to step up. He made no mistake, blasting his effort to David Raya’s right.
🚨 Julian Alvarez strong penalty kick!
🇪🇺 Atlético Madrid 1-1 Arsenalpic.twitter.com/dnJ9dd8WMX
— Goals Xtra (@GoalsXtra) April 29, 2026
Julian Alvarez smashes home from the spot to bring Atletico Madrid level ⚽
Watch live on TNT Sports and HBO Max pic.twitter.com/gPL0l1Oi0A
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 29, 2026
Simeone will be very pleased with how his side have responded to falling behind. Arsenal are arguably the best defensive team in Europe, but Atleti have managed to breach them – they’ll hope to do it again before the first leg comes to an end.
