Alvarez penalty rescues Atletico in tense Arsenal semi-final draw

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Julian Alvarez stepped up from twelve yards to earn Atletico Madrid a 1-1 stalemate with Arsenal in a tense first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.

Viktor Gyokeres had put the English Premier League pacesetters in front from the spot moments before half-time after being fouled, only for Alvarez to level matters ten minutes into the second half following a Ben White handball.

The Gunners were left aggrieved when a late penalty appeal was struck off after a VAR check on David Hancko's challenge on Eberechi Eze inside the box.

"I'm incredibly fuming," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. "It's a clear and very obvious penalty."

Atletico shaded long stretches of the contest, but stout defending from the visitors leaves Arsenal well placed to push for a return to the Champions League final, two decades on from their last appearance in the showpiece.

"Here, you have to suffer," Arteta told Movistar. "Many teams have suffered here, including some of the best in the world. We had some good moments in the match and moments where we had to suffer. The margins are very slim."

Atletico captain Koke said his team-mates could hold their heads high after the interval.

"We were the team we have to be – if we play at this level we can win," Koke told Movistar. "From my point of view they didn't create much danger against us… the team defended well and they just had that penalty."

The match lacked the goal-fest seen the previous evening when Paris Saint-Germain edged Bayern Munich 5-4 in the other semi-final, but it made up for it with edge and a refusal from either side to be the first to crack.

Minutes before kick-off, supporters in the Metropolitano Stadium showered the stands with toilet paper in an eye-catching, if wasteful, ritual that drew sarcastic jibes about the quality of football to come.

In a meeting of two of European football's most prominent clubs yet to lift the trophy, neither team was prepared to take the first risk. Despite their reputation for back-line resilience, Atletico pressed Arteta's normally tight Arsenal early on, with David Raya turning an Alvarez effort behind for a corner.

Far from following Arteta's pre-match instruction to take charge, the Gunners looked content to strike on the break. Noni Madueke, drafted onto the right with Bukayo Saka only fit enough for the bench, slashed narrowly wide as last season's semi-finalists ventured forward in spurts.

On their next foray, Gyokeres earned the penalty. The Sweden striker, who likely would not have started had Kai Havertz been available, played a one-two with Martin Zubimendi before Hancko bundled him over from behind.

Diego Simeone and Atletico veteran Antoine Griezmann pleaded for a second look, but VAR saw nothing untoward. Gyokeres took the kick himself and lashed it past Jan Oblak, who guessed correctly but had no realistic chance of stopping it.

Three-time finalists Atletico, in the last four for the first time in nine seasons, came out firing after the restart. Raya parried an Ademola Lookman strike, with Gabriel blocking Griezmann's follow-up.

The equaliser arrived from the spot after White handled Marcos Llorente's shot, the ball ricocheting up onto his arm, which was held away from his body. Alvarez, who had missed in Atletico's Copa del Rey final shoot-out loss earlier in April, made no mistake this time with a fierce drive matching Gyokeres's earlier effort.

Griezmann, bound for Major League Soccer, then clipped a shot onto the crossbar and dragged the rebound wide as Atletico chased a lead to carry into next Tuesday's return.

"This is what we have to do in the away game," Griezmann said. "[The second half] was much better in terms of intensity."

Nigeria forward Lookman twice threatened and may rue those squandered openings, denied each time by an attentive Raya.

Arsenal believed they had been awarded a second penalty when substitute Eze tumbled under a half-hearted Hancko challenge, only for the referee to reverse his decision following a VAR review, ruling that the Slovakian defender's touch was negligible.

Arsenal next host Fulham as they keep up their Premier League title chase with Manchester City, while Simeone, with little still at stake in La Liga, is expected to make wholesale changes before the tie is settled in London.