Arsenal equal all-time club record in Atletico Madrid draw as Mikel Arteta reacts to penalty overturn

Arsenal equalled an all-time Champions League club record in their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in Wednesday's semi-final first leg, after which Mikel Arteta was "fuming".

Following Tuesday's 5-4 epic between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, a good chunk of neutral fans anticipated a much more low-key encounter between two sides renowned for prioritising pragmatism over entertainment.

However, there was no shortage of drama at the Estadio Metropolitano, where Viktor Gyokeres's penalty towards the end of the first half was cancelled out by a Julian Alvarez spot kick early in the second period.

Both sides had chances to take a 2-1 lead as the game entered its dying embers, but Arsenal escaped with a creditable 1-1 draw to leave them as slight favourites heading into next Tuesday's return game at the Emirates.

Still yet to suffer defeat in the 2025-26 Champions League, Arsenal have now gone 13 games without defeat in the tournament, matching their longest-ever unbeaten run in the competition under its current name.

Arsenal go 13 games unbeaten in Champions League

The Gunners previously went 13 Champions League matches unbeaten during the 2005-06 season, the year that they reached the final for the first time - a positive omen for Arteta ahead of next week's second leg.

Arsene Wenger's team had their hearts shattered by Barcelona in the final 20 years ago, though, and they would enter any final with PSG or Bayern as the underdogs.

Nevertheless, the Premier League leaders are in an advantageous position before next week's reunion with Atletico, whom they memorably battered 4-0 during the league phase of the competition.

However, Arteta and co were unsurprisingly left apoplectic at the decision to overturn a second-half penalty after David Hancko appeared to trip Eberechi Eze, who was awarded the spot kick on the field by referee Danny Makkelie.

The Dutchman reversed his decision after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, sparking major criticism from home fans, journalists and pundits, who felt that Makkelie had been influenced by the home crowd and the animated Simeone.

Could Arsenal appeal penalty decision in Atletico Madrid draw?

No penalty for Arsenal after the VAR review ❌

What do you make of that decision?

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Replays did show that the contact between Hancko and Eze was minimal, but many argued that the incident did not meet the clear and obvious error threshold to overturn the on-field decision.

"The referee has to watch it 13 times – it’s clearer than that. It's impossible, and yeah, we are all fuming about it," a furious Arteta told reporters in his post-game press conference.

The Arsenal boss was also asked whether his side could submit a formal complaint to UEFA about the decision, to which he replied: "I don't know.

"I'll leave that to the club to decide what’s the best thing to do. Now they're not going to give us a penalty. That's gone, and that's it. Let's talk about football."

Arsenal are next in action at home to Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, while Atletico travel to Valencia in La Liga on the same day.