Both goals were scored from penalties, and the scorers were Viktor Đokereš and Julijan Álvarez.
Cholo Simeone's men left a better impression tonight, they were a more dangerous rival, especially in the second 45 minutes, when they perhaps deserved to win.
The first real excitement came in the 15th minute. Julijan Alvarez had a nice shot from the edge of the penalty area, but David Raja made an excellent save. A few tens of seconds later, Martin Edegord found himself in a promising situation, but his shot was blocked by Pubilj at the last moment.
After exactly half an hour of football at the "Metropolitan", the guests from London were very close to taking the lead - Noni Madueke shot from distance, but the ball grazed the post.
When it seemed that the teams would go into the mandatory break tied, two minutes before the end of the first half, a penalty was awarded to the "Gunners". The duel between David Hanck and Viktor Đokereš, the referee of the match Dani Makeli characterized as an illegal start by the Atletico stopper and pointed to the penalty spot. The Swede took responsibility and beat Jan Oblak, who hit the side, but the ball went through his hands.
In the fourth minute, Alvarez attempted a direct free kick, but it was almost inaccurate.
Three minutes later, Ademola Lukman shot straight at a well-placed Raju, Antoine Griezmann ran to intercept, but Gabriel Martinelli blocked his shot.
In the 55th minute, the home team equalized, also from the penalty spot. After a shot by Marcos Llorente, the ball hit Ben White in the arm. Makeli received a call from the VAR room, and after reviewing the video, he pointed to the penalty area for the second time in the match. Alvarez set up the ball and scored for 1:1.
After the equalizer, Atletico rushed for a turnaround, and came very close in the 63rd minute – Griezmann hit the crossbar from ten meters down. Shortly after, Alvarez cleverly tried directly from a corner, but Raja cleared the ball under the crossbar.
In the 75th minute, another big opportunity for the "quilters" – Lukman was once again in the spotlight, but once again Raja was sure of himself.
Ten minutes before the end of the regular period, Hancko committed another penalty (stepping on Eberechi Eze), and Makeli immediately, without much thought, awarded the harshest penalty. However, he again received a call from the VAR room, and after reviewing the footage, he reversed the decision and pointed to a goal-off.
Christian Mosquera and Declan Rice, respectively Nauel Molina, tried until the end of the game, but the result remained unchanged, so the decision will come in the second leg to be played next Tuesday in London.
As a reminder, last night in Paris, PSG defeated Bayern Munich in an epic match (5:4). The return match in Munich is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6th.
