A place in the UEFA Champions League final will be decided at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening when Arsenal take on Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their semi-final. The tie is level at 1-1 after last week’s first leg in the Spanish capital — a contest dominated by penalty decisions — leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with a marginal advantage heading into the home fixture.
Arsenal arrive into this second leg unbeaten in the 2025-26 Champions League campaign. Should they progress to the final, the Gunners would establish a new club record of 14 consecutive unbeaten matches in the competition, ending a 20-year absence from Europe’s showpiece occasion.
Domestic form further supports the home side’s confidence. A commanding 3-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday moved Arsenal six points clear of Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League table, delivering one of the more fluid attacking performances of their season. In European home fixtures against Spanish opposition, Arsenal’s record is notably strong — only one of their last 15 such UEFA home games has resulted in defeat, a 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the 2015-16 round of 16.
The two clubs met earlier this season in the league phase, with Arsenal winning 4-0 at the Emirates — a result that, paradoxically, preceded a significant upturn in Atletico’s form. Diego Simeone’s side followed that heavy defeat by winning seven consecutive matches across all competitions, briefly raising their La Liga title credentials. However, a difficult spring period followed, during which Atletico lost seven of eight matches between March 18 and April 22. They have since recovered, matching Arsenal’s recent win-draw-win sequence across their last three games.
Off the pitch, Atletico’s season has already been marked by disappointment. They were beaten in the Copa del Rey final by Real Sociedad, and with Barcelona closing in on the La Liga title and Atletico having already secured a top-four finish, the Champions League represents their only remaining chance of silverware this term.
This is the first season in which the two clubs have met in the Champions League. Their only previous head-to-head encounters came in the 2018 UEFA Europa League semi-finals, where a 1-1 draw at the Emirates was followed by a 1-0 Atletico win at home, sending the Spanish side through. They went on to defeat Marseille 3-0 in that final. Were Arteta to remain unbeaten across three matches against Simeone in European competition, he would join Carlo Ancelotti and Maurizio Sarri as the only managers to achieve that feat.
On the team news front, Arsenal’s injury situation remains a concern. Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz, both absent for the Fulham win, did not feature in training on Monday, according to reports, suggesting they are unlikely to be available on Tuesday. Jurrien Timber is also expected to miss out. Martin Zubimendi is anticipated to return to midfield despite Myles Lewis-Skelly’s impressive display in that role against Fulham, with Arteta facing further selection decisions at full-back and on the left wing.
Atletico received a scare in the first leg when striker Julian Alvarez hobbled off in the second half. However, subsequent medical assessments have ruled out a serious injury for the Argentine, who is expected to start at the Emirates. Alvarez has been named in Atletico’s 25-man travelling squad alongside Giuliano Simeone, Alexander Sorloth, and Jose Gimenez, all of whom had been carrying doubts. Pablo Barrios and Nico Gonzalez remain absent for the visitors due to thigh injuries.
Possible starting lineups see Arsenal lining up as: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Rice, Zubimendi; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Gyokeres. Atletico Madrid are expected to field: Oblak; Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone, Koke, Cardoso, Lookman; Álvarez, Griezmann.
In terms of the betting outlook, both teams to score and under 3.5 goals are among the highlighted tips for the match, with Arsenal favoured to qualify for the final. A predicted scoreline of 2-1 to Arsenal on the night — giving the Gunners a 3-2 aggregate victory — reflects their home advantage and European record at the Emirates this season, though the first leg demonstrated that Atletico are capable of creating significant problems after the interval.
