Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published on Wednesday, 06 May 2026, 00:17 / Updated on Wednesday, 06 May 2026 00:27
Arsenal reached the final of the Champions League for the second time, after the “gunners” played the last act of the competition in 2006, being then defeated by Barcelona with a score of 1-2. The press in England praised Mikel Arteta's squad, who passed by Atletico Madrid in the second leg at “Emirates”, score 1-0, after 1-1 in the round at “Metropolitano”.
On the other hand, the press in Spain was merciless with the performance of Atletico Madrid, but also with the controversial decision of the “central” Daniel Siebert, who did not award a penalty for Diego Simeone's team in the 56th minute of the match, after a foul committed by Riccardo Calafiori on Antoine Griezmann.
“Arsenal is in dreamland”
“Arsenal are in dreamland,” captioned the DailyMail journalists, who praised Mikel Arteta's side, unbeaten in this Champions League season.
On the other hand, “The Sun” used a play on words for the title of the article, “Simply the pest”, in translation “simply the most harmful”, alluding to Bukayo Saka, who ended the Madrid dream of reaching the third Champions League final in the last 12 years.
The pun came from Tina Turner's famous song, “Simply the best”, in translation “simply the best”.
“Cursed Champions League”
On the other hand, the press in Spain had completely different reactions, considering the failure suffered by the band coached by “Cholo” Simeone.
“Cursed Champions League” captioned the Marca journalists, given Atletico Madrid's bad luck in the most important inter-club competition. On the same note, AS.com headlined “Atletico Madrid are one step away again”.
Atletico Madrid played in two Champions League finals, in 2014 and 2016, both of which they lost to Real Madrid. In the first, the team coached by Diego Simeone was very close to the trophy, but Real Madrid managed to push the final into extra time thanks to the goal scored by Sergio Ramos in the 90th+3rd minute. Later, Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 3 goals in extra time, with which Real Madrid won then “La Decima”.
The second final, played two years later, was also dramatic. Real took the lead after Sergio Ramos' goal in the 15th minute, but Atletico sent the match into extra time after Carrasco's goal in the 79th minute. The match went to penalty kicks and Cristiano Ronaldo converted the decisive penalty, the match being won by “Los Blancos” with the score of 5-3 on penalties.
