MADRID (AP) — Venezuela's exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado drew several thousand supporters Saturday to a rally in Madrid, where the Nobel laureate declined a meeting with Spain's progressive Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on a multicountry European tour.
Sánchez, an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was hosting a summit of like-minded progressive leaders from around the world Saturday, while Machado extolled Trump's ouster of Nicolás Maduro in January.
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Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets the crowd at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan supporters react as Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado delivers a speech at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan supporters react as Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado delivers a speech at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds a Venezuelan flag on stage in front of supporters at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reacts before receiving the Golden Key of the City of Madrid from Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida in Madrid, Spain, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Earlier this year, she presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize.
“What happened in the last few hours at the meeting (Sánchez) held in Barcelona with several leaders and political figures from different countries demonstrates why such a meeting was not advisable,” Machado told reporters Saturday.
Machado insisted at an earlier event she will be returning to Venezuela, but declined to say when, or how, and acknowledged the challenges implicit in a return to her country.
Her multistop European tour, during which she met with the leaders of France, Italy and the Netherlands, comes while Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez has continued in her temporary role, exceeding its initial 90-day limit, while the U.S. government has lifted some sanctions against her.
Machado criticized Rodríguez’s government, saying it represented “chaos, violence and terror,” and reiterated her belief in the need for democratic elections in Venezuela. Machado added she did not regret presenting Trump, whose administration has largely sidelined the crusader for democracy, with her Nobel.
She said she was in permanent contact with officials in the Trump administration and trusted Washington's phased process in Venezuela since Maduro's removal.
“There is one leader in the world, one head of state, who has risked the lives of his country’s citizens for the freedom of Venezuela. And that is Donald Trump,” Machado said, referring to the U.S. military operation in January.
The opposition leader drew a huge crowd in the Spanish capital’s Puerta del Sol, standing beside Madrid’s conservative regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who feted her earlier in the day.
Some 600,000 Venezuelans live in Spain, home to the largest population anywhere outside the Americas. Many fled political persecution and violence, but also the country’s collapsing economy. A majority live in the capital, Madrid.
Ahead of Venezuela's 2024 presidential elections, Machado crisscrossed the country, rallying millions of voters looking to end 25 years of single party rule. When she was barred from the race, a previously unknown former diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez, replaced her on the ballot. But election officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary.
Machado, revered by millions in Venezuela, went into hiding but vowed to continue fighting until democracy was restored. She reemerged last December to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, the first time in more than a decade that she had left Venezuela.
On Saturday, 27-year-old Venezuelan migrant Grehlsy Peñuela said she still placed her hopes for her country in Machado and her eventual return to Caracas.
Peñuela, who held signs with the faces of her two cousins she said remain incarcerated in Caracas as political prisoners, would consider returning to Venezuela only under one condition.
“That the current government completely steps down,” she said.
Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets the crowd at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan supporters react as Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado delivers a speech at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan supporters react as Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado delivers a speech at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds a Venezuelan flag on stage in front of supporters at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reacts before receiving the Golden Key of the City of Madrid from Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida in Madrid, Spain, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
GENEVA (AP) — The Champions League's Cinderella club Bodø/Glimt is one game away from returning to the 36-team main draw being made Thursday alongside the wealthy giants of European soccer like title holder Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
With the final seven Champions League entries to be decided in playoffs this week, the Norwegian fishing town team holds a 3-1 lead hosting Dutch debutant NEC Nijmegen at its Arctic Circle home on Tuesday.
Norway could have two teams advance as domestic champion Viking hosts Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday with the teams tied at 2-2. The Croatian champion wasted an early two-goal lead in the first leg last Tuesday.
The Champions League draw ceremony starts at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Thursday in Monaco, when the local team will be preparing to kick off about 10 minutes’ drive away in the Conference League playoffs.
Monaco defending a 3-2 first-leg lead over Gornik Zabrze is among 36 playoff second legs this week in the second-tier Europa League and third-tier Conference League to finalize lineups for those draws being made Friday.
After winning games against Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League, Bodø/Glimt started this time in qualifying needing to advance through two rounds in August.
Glimt has scored three goals in each of its three games so far, first eliminating Union Saint-Gilloise 6-5 on aggregate score. Almost its entire squad was retained with just one big-money exit, selling Denmark forward Kasper Høgh to Celtic for a reported 11 million pounds ($15 million).
Høgh and Celtic also are in action Tuesday, taking a 3-0 first-leg lead to Austria against LASK.
Israel’s champion Hapoel Beer-Sheva has a 2-1 lead going to Azerbaijan to face Sabah, a club which was created just nine years ago.
Lyon, now owned by U.S. investor Michele Kang, hosts Fenerbahce on Wednesday tied at 1-1.
Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Bayern Munich (Germany), Real Madrid (Spain), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Manchester City (England), Arsenal (England), Barcelona (Spain), Atletico Madrid (Spain).
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Roma (Italy), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Aston Villa (England), Porto (Portugal), Manchester United (England), Club Brugge (Belgium), Real Betis (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands).
Pot 3: Feyenoord (Netherlands), Lille (France), Napoli (Italy), Leipzig (Germany), Villarreal (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Galatasaray (Turkey) — possibly Slavia Prague (Czech Republic).
Pot 4: Stuttgart (Germany), Como (Italy), Lens (France). Seven playoff winners are yet to be decided.
The draw sees UEFA's software program allocate eight opponents to each team, with two coming from each seeding pot.
The first round of games is played over three evenings from Sept. 8-10 — the only games before the new and expanded four-game international break for national teams that starts Sept. 24.
The Champions League resumes Oct. 13 with the second round. The sixth round is played Dec. 8-9 before a break until January. The eighth and final round with all 36 teams playing simultaneously is Jan. 27.
The Europa League has a stronger look than last season with AC Milan, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen waiting in the draw Friday for the eight-round league phase.
So too are a curious group from England — Conference League title holder Crystal Palace, European debutant Bournemouth and Sunderland, which last played in a UEFA competition 53 years ago.
The prize for lifting the trophy next May in Frankfurt, Germany, is a ticket to the Champions League.
Second legs in the qualifying playoffs are on Thursday with some played during the Champions League draw.
Those games include Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor trailing 1-0 before going to Hungary to face Ferencvaros, plus former European Cup winners Benfica and Red Star Belgrade.
It has been a tough season for some of the feelgood story domestic title holders who were already eliminated in Champions League qualifying rounds.
Swiss champion Thun — edged out of Champions League qualifying by Dinamo Zagreb — lost 7-0 at Lech Poznan in the first leg of its Europa League playoff. Sweden’s Mjällby goes to Salzburg on Thursday after a 1-0 loss at home.
All losers in Europa League playoffs get places in the Conference League main phase played over just six rounds until December.
The Conference League also has teams that identify as Champions League regulars: Ajax, Atalanta, Monaco.
Freiburg drops down a level after being the Europa League beaten finalist in May while Brighton aims to make it three straight English winners after Chelsea and its main rival Palace.
No one gets a free pass into the six-round league stage and all must navigate the playoffs round this week.
Atalanta, the 2024 Europa League winner, looks most at risk after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. The return is in neutral Hungary.
Andorra shapes to have a first-ever team in a main phase, with Inter Escaldes hosting Drita of Kosovo tied at 2-2. Larne of Northern Ireland takes a 2-0 lead into its home leg against Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Trabzonspor's Mohamed Salah in action during the Turkish Super Lig soccer match between Kasimpasa and Trabzonspor in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Aug.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Celtic's Camilo Duran celebrates after scoring their side's second goal during the Champions League play-off first leg match between Celtic and LASK in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
FILE - PSG's head coach Luis Enrique celebrates after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
