{"id":904072,"date":"2026-05-07T05:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/ucl-nigerias-captain-mourns-atletico-madrids-loss-to-sakas-arsenal\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T05:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:18:24","slug":"ucl-nigerias-captain-mourns-atletico-madrids-loss-to-sakas-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/ucl-nigerias-captain-mourns-atletico-madrids-loss-to-sakas-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"UCL: Nigeria\u2019s captain mourns Atletico Madrid\u2019s loss to Saka\u2019s Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s Ademola Lookman vs Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. Copyright: LGMx\/xLexPictorium\/IMAGO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade has openly shared her disappointment after Atletico Madrid were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Arsenal on Tuesday night, Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The decisive moment came at the Emirates Stadium, where Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the second leg to hand Arsenal a 1-0 victory. That result, combined with the 1-1 draw from the first leg at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, ensured the Premier League side progressed with a 2-1 aggregate win.<\/p>\n

It is a historic achievement for Arsenal, who have now reached the final of Europe\u2019s top club competition for the first time since 2006. Back then, they fell short against Barcelona, but this latest run under Mikel Arteta signals a return to the elite level.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s Ademola Lookman vs Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. Copyright: xLAHALLExPIERRExIMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, it was a night of frustration for Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side had hoped to reach their first Champions League final since 2016, but they fell just short despite a determined performance across both legs.<\/p>\n

Ajibade, who previously spent four successful years with Atletico\u2019s women\u2019s team, winning the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa de Espa\u00f1a, was among those backing the Spanish club. Her emotional connection to Atletico made the defeat even harder to take.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the final whistle, she took to social media platform X <\/a>with a blunt message to fans looking to taunt her: \u201cI don\u2019t wanna hear NOTHING from nobody. Absolutely nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
PSG star Rasheedat Ajibade. Photo Credit: Ajibade\/X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soccer Lookman\u2019s Atletico fight hard but fall short at Emirates<\/h2>\n

On the pitch, Atletico Madrid were far from being terrible, especially in the second half, but they could not find the breakthrough they needed.<\/p>\n

Arsenal\u2019s goal arrived just before halftime. Saka reacted quickest after Jan Oblak saved an initial effort from Leandro Trossard, smartly finishing into an empty net to give the hosts the lead.<\/p>\n

Atletico responded with urgency after the break. In the 51st minute, Giuliano Simeone had a clear chance to equalise after latching onto a poor headed back-pass inside the box. However, Arsenal defender Gabriel produced a crucial intervention to deny what looked like a certain goal.<\/p>\n

Nigeria international Ademola Lookman, who started the match, was substituted in the 57th minute as Diego Simeone made a triple change in search of a goal.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Ademola Lookman vs Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. Copyright: IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tactical switch showed Atletico\u2019s intent, but Arsenal remained compact and dangerous on the counter.<\/p>\n

The Gunners nearly doubled their advantage in the 66th minute when striker Viktor Gyokeres missed a big chance, but it did not prove costly. As the game entered its closing stages, tensions rose, with a few yellow cards shown as Atletico pushed forward desperately.<\/p>\n

Despite the late pressure, Arsenal held firm until the final whistle, confirming their place in the final and ending Atletico\u2019s European campaign.<\/p>\n

The defeat caps off a disappointing 2025\/26 season for Atletico Madrid, with the club now set to finish without a trophy despite early promise.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\"<!--Imhonlamhen” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/UeZ4EmE35a2sJHCDcRne0Ycx5DA=\/150×150\/smart\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2024%2F12%2FDSC_0327-copy.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen is a football writer and editor at Soccernet.ng with over six years\u2019 experience shaping its editorial voice. A lifelong Arsenal and Super Eagles fan, he combines engineering precision with training in journalism and digital media. He has covered four AFCONs and two Women\u2019s AFCON tournaments, specialising in Super Eagles history and tracking Nigerian players worldwide, while keeping a close eye on the NPFL and emerging homegrown talents.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Imhonlamhen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s Ademola Lookman vs Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. Copyright: LGMx\/xLexPictorium\/IMAGO Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade has openly shared her disappointment after Atletico Madrid were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Arsenal on Tuesday night, Soccernet.ng reports. The decisive moment came at the Emirates Stadium, where Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4854,21970,2005],"tags":[11038,86607],"class_list":{"0":"post-904072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-captain","8":"category-nigerias","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-captain","11":"tag-nigerias"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}