Atletico Madrid host Arsenal at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, a scenario in which the ‘Colchoneros’ double the experience of the Gunners.
The current season is drawing to a close, and with it the 2026 World Cup is beginning to loom on the horizon. However, much of the focus remains on the 2025/26 Champions League, which is reaching its climax, with four teams battling it out to secure their place in the final on 30 May at the Puskas Arena.
Atletico Madrid host Arsenal on Wednesday night in the first leg of the semi-finals, a stage of the competition where they have gained experience in recent times but have failed to reach for the past eight years.
Although the Gunners were competing in a Champions League semi-final just a year ago, the Spanish side have twice the experience of the Londoners at this stage of the competition, boasting six semi-final appearances in their history compared to the English side’s three.
Atletico have a 50% success rate at this stage, having reached the final on three occasions and falling just short of the big final on three others. The first time they reached this stage – and, unsurprisingly, it was against their great nemesis in the competition, Real Madrid – was in the 1958/59 season.
The ‘Rojiblancos’ lost the first leg 2–1 away but secured a 1–0 victory in the second leg at home, meaning a third match had to be played, which Real Madrid won 2–1, as extra time and penalty shoot-outs had not yet been introduced in the event of a draw.
Several years later, the Madrid side secured their place in the semi-finals again in the 1970/71 season, and although things were looking promising following a 1-0 home win in the first leg against Ajax, the Eredivisie side thrashed them 3-0 in the Netherlands to knock them out.
Just three years later, the La Liga side qualified for the semi-finals once again, this time securing a place in the final after holding Celtic to a goalless draw in the first leg away from home and beating them 2-0 in the second leg in Spain.
It took 30 years for Atletico to reach this stage of the competition again, when in the 2013/14 season they faced Chelsea, whom they knocked out despite being held to a goalless draw at home in the first leg, securing their place in the final with a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Two years later, Diego Simeone’s side once again secured their place in the Champions League final by knocking out a mighty Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, claiming a 1-0 home win in the first leg and suffering a 2-1 defeat at the Allianz Arena – a result that proved sufficient thanks to the away goals rule.
The ‘Colchoneros’ managed to reach back-to-back semi-finals by making it to that round again in the 2016/17 season, but in their path they encountered a Real Madrid side that once again spoiled their European campaign, thrashing them 3-0 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, which meant that the ‘Rojiblancos’ 2-1 home victory was not enough to prevent their exit from the competition.
Arsenañ’s Gyokeres
Gunners eye redemption
For their part, as mentioned above, Arsenal are back in the semi-finals just one year after reaching them last season, making consecutive appearances at this stage of the competition.
The Premier League side have only reached the semi-finals on three occasions in their history, all in the 20th century, securing a place in the final on just one of those occasions – precisely the first time they reached that stage of the competition.
The Gunners reached their first semi-final in the 2005/06 season, knocking out Villarreal with a 1-0 aggregate score after securing a narrow victory in the first leg in London and holding them to a goalless draw in the second leg.
The London side returned to the semi-finals just three years later, although their fellow Premier League side Manchester United knocked them out following a 1-0 first-leg victory at Old Trafford and a 3-1 away win in London in the second leg.
The English club’s most recent appearance in the semi-finals was last season, when they were knocked out by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain on a 3-1 aggregate score after the Parisians secured a narrow victory at the Emirates Stadium and sealed their progression by beating the Gunners 2-1 at the Parc des Princes.
Marquinhos PSG
Still chasing the crown
Neither the ‘Rojiblancos’ nor the Gunners have ever lifted the Champions League trophy, with Atletico Madrid having suffered three defeats in finals compared to the London side’s single defeat in their entire history.
The Spanish side’s history is undoubtedly more heartbreaking than that of the English side, as it is not just the number of times they have come close to lifting the trophy, but the manner in which it has happened.
The ‘Colchoneros’ were soundly beaten by Bayern Munich in the 1973/74 final, suffering a 4-0 defeat with a brace each from Hoeness and Muller, but the worst was yet to come some 30 years later.
The ‘Rojiblancos’ secured their place in the final twice in just three years during the 2013/14 and 2015/16 seasons, with their nemesis and neighbours Real Madrid standing in their way on both occasions. Ramos’s iconic last-gasp goal and the subsequent comeback denied them the trophy in Lisbon when they were already within touching distance.
Once again, fate showed no mercy to the ‘Colchoneros’, who held the ‘Merengues’ to a 1-1 draw but once again fell just short of winning the competition after suffering a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out defeat in Milan at the hands of ‘Los Blancos’.
The Gunners have only tasted reaching the final on one occasion, and that too had a bitter ending, as the London side managed to take the lead thanks to a goal from Campbell in the first half, but a late comeback with goals from Samuel Eto’o and Belletti secured the comeback for Barcelona, who lifted the trophy at the Stade de France against an Arsenal side led by Thierry Henry.