Arsenal beat Atletico to reach their first Champions League final in 20 years

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, advancing to the final 2-1 on aggregate.

The visitors carved out the first opportunity in the seventh minute as Julian Alvarez connected with Giuliano Simeone’s cross, but his effort drifted wide before Declan Rice made a crucial block to deny Simeone minutes later.

At the other end, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes both fired wide as the hosts pushed for an opener.

Moments later, two penalty appeals from the Gunners were waved away by referee Daniel Siebert, following Antoine Griezmann’s challenge on Leandro Trossard and David Hancko handling Rice’s strike.

On the stroke of half-time, Saka broke the deadlock with a close-range finish after Trossard’s initial effort was parried by Jan Oblak.

Shortly after the restart, Simeone was gifted a huge chance to draw the visitors level after William Saliba’s poor back pass sent him through, but after rounding David Raya, he was denied by Gabriel, with VAR ruling no penalty.

In the 65th minute, Viktor Gyökeres squandered a glorious opportunity to double Arsenal’s lead after he was found by Piero Hincapié, but the Swede couldn’t hit the target.

Moments later, Gabriel headed wide from Rice’s corner before Alexander Sørloth dragged his effort off target from Alex Baena’s pass at the other end.

Arsenal will contest their first Champions League final in 20 years against either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on May 30.