Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid Lineups May 2026 – The dream of appearing in the Budapest final will become a reality for either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid when the two teams meet in the second leg of the 2025/2026 Champions League semi-final.

This match is scheduled to take place at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at 08.00 PM local time.

The 1-1 draw in the first leg last week in the Spanish capital gives Mikel Arteta’s side a slight advantage heading into their biggest European match in the last two decades.

Now, before this match begins, let us review Mansion Sports’ prediction for the Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid lineups for May 2026 below!

Team Conditions Ahead of the Match

Arsenal

A win, draw, or even a narrow defeat would have still been considered a fairly positive result for Arsenal during their trip to Metropolitano Stadium last week, making the 1-1 draw a reasonably good outcome. However, there was still visible frustration within The Gunners camp when the match ended.

Viktor Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez both successfully converted penalties in different halves of the match, but Arteta was left “furious” after his team’s second penalty was overturned following a VAR review. During that moment, Diego Simeone was also seen actively waving his hands behind referee Danny Makkelie.

Only Makkelie and his technology team can answer whether the incident involving Eberechi Eze and David Hancko truly met the threshold of being “clear and obvious.”

Regardless of the controversy, avoiding defeat away from home in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final remains a very valuable result.

Arsenal themselves remain unbeaten in the 2025-26 Champions League campaign. If they manage to qualify for the final, they will set a new club record for the longest unbeaten run in this competition with 14 matches.

Arsenal’s performances in both domestic and European competitions also strongly support such optimism. Last weekend, Arsenal secured an impressive 3-0 victory over Fulham, despite their opponents dealing with an illness outbreak, while also recording their second win in the last three matches.

That victory moved Arsenal six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, following one of their most fluid performances in recent months.

In addition, only one of Arsenal’s last 15 home matches against Spanish clubs in UEFA competitions ended in defeat, which came in a 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Round of 16 during the 2015-16 season. Arsenal also previously thrashed Atletico 4-0 in the league phase approximately six months ago.

Atletico Madrid

The heavy 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in the league phase had actually sparked Atletico Madrid’s resurgence. Following that match, they immediately recorded seven consecutive victories across all competitions and revived their La Liga title hopes.

However, another trophyless season is once again looming over the visitors if they fail to correct their mistakes at the Emirates.

Atletico had already experienced disappointment in the Copa del Rey final after losing to Real Sociedad, while in La Liga they no longer have major targets as they have already secured a top-four finish and are trailing Barcelona.

That situation allowed Simeone to fully rotate his squad by changing all 11 players when facing Valencia last weekend. Interestingly, Atletico’s second-string team still managed to secure a 2-0 victory, despite Koke and Antoine Griezmann only coming on in the second half.

That result means Atletico share the same pattern as Arsenal in their last three matches, namely win-draw-win.

Los Rojiblancos are gradually rediscovering their winning momentum after enduring a poor spring period in which they suffered seven defeats from eight matches between March 18 and April 22.

Atletico also have a fairly solid European record. They have progressed from six out of 10 two-legged ties after drawing the first leg at home.

If they manage to eliminate Arsenal once again, as they did in the 2017-18 Europa League semi-final, Atletico will advance to the final and face Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain at Puskas Arena.

Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid Lineups May 2026

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)

For the home squad condition, Bukayo Saka delivered an outstanding performance against Fulham by recording one goal and one assist in the first half. He was then substituted at half-time, but that decision was purely precautionary for this match.

Arteta also confirmed that Martin Odegaard (knee) and Kai Havertz (muscle) are available for Tuesday’s match. However, Jurrien Timber (groin) and Mikel Merino (leg) are confirmed absentees.

Myles Lewis-Skelly impressed in midfield when given a rare starting opportunity last weekend.

However, Martin Zubimendi, who was rested, is expected to return to the starting XI, as is Piero Hincapie, who is likely to replace Riccardo Calafiori at left-back.

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2)

Meanwhile, regarding the away squad condition, Atletico were initially concerned when Julian Alvarez limped off in the first leg. However, examination results confirmed that the striker’s injury is not serious, and he is expected to start from the opening minute in North London.

Alvarez also recorded an outstanding milestone in the first leg. He became the fastest Argentine player to reach 25 Champions League goals in 41 matches, breaking Lionel Messi’s previous record of 42 matches.

The former Manchester City striker is included in Atletico’s 25-man squad alongside Giuliano Simeone, Alexander Sorloth, and Jose Gimenez, who had previously been doubts.

This means only Pablo Barrios and Nico Gonzalez are confirmed absentees due to thigh injuries.

This match is predicted to be extremely tight because both teams possess quality and strong motivation to qualify for the final.

Arsenal hold a slight advantage due to home status, but Atletico Madrid are certainly not an easy opponent to overcome.

It will be interesting to see whether these Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid lineups for May 2026 can lead one of the teams to the Champions League final this season.