Atletico Madrid's Simeone proud and 'peaceful' after Champions League hopes dashed yet again

MADRID (AP) — After yet another Champions League elimination, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone rallied with his players in front of the team's fans. He yelled, pumped his fists and applauded as the Atletico fans chanted support despite a 1-0 semifinal loss to Arsenal that ended the team's hopes of winning the European competition for the first time.

There was no desperation, no anguish, no extreme sadness. Simeone was at peace, proud of how far Atletico made it.

“No one expected that we would be here,” Simeone said. “We competed with a team that had so much strength and power. We gave it our all and now we have to accept the place that we're in. I’m grateful to our supporters and our players. I feel proud to be where I am right now.”

Simeone wasn't even complaining with the refereeing despite two penalty calls that didn't go Atletico's way in the second half.

“If we got knocked out, it’s because our opponents deserved to get through,” Simeone said. “If you ask me how I feel, I feel calm and peaceful. The team gave absolutely everything.”

Atletico, the third power in Spanish soccer behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, was playing in the Champions League semifinals for the first time in a decade — since it lost the final to rival Madrid in 2016.

It was the only Spanish team to reach the last four of the European tournament this season, eliminating five-time champion Barcelona in the quarterfinals.

Atletico ended the season without lifting a trophy after not reaching the final in the Spanish Super Cup, losing the final of the Copa del Rey to Real Sociedad, and struggling in the Spanish league, where it sits in fourth place, 25 points behind leader Barcelona with four games remaining.

“There were high hopes for us in the Copa and in the Champions League,” Atletico midfielder Koke Resurrección said. “We were not consistent in the league, we were not at the level we should have been. But we lost the Copa in a penalty shootout and in the Champions League we were this close to advancing.”

“This group has been improving a lot and we have very young players who certainly will help this team fight for many great things in the near future,” added the 34-year-old Koke, whose future with Atletico remained unclear.

The loss to Arsenal likely put an end to Antoine Griezmann's hopes of adding a Champions League title to his career achievements. The France forward is joining MLS club Orlando City after the season.

The 35-year-old Griezmann missed a penalty kick in the 2016 Champions League final that Atletico lost to Real Madrid.

“He has been an amazing player,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. “We are sad not just for him but for all the fans of Atleti, too. Everyone was looking for this final but we didn’t reach it, so it’s a difficult moment.”

Simeone praised both Griezmann and Koke after the loss.

“We competed well with Barcelona in the quarterfinal, and in the semifinal against Arsenal. We have done incredibly well, and that’s down to the hard work by players, including Antoine Griezmann,” the coach said. “I hope the fans appreciated what we’ve done in the last few games. Koke was incredible, he’s a real master, he shows leadership and talent despite his age.”

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Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann applauds the supporters at the the end of a Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid in London, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone and the players applaud the supporters at the the end of a Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid in London, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone and the players applaud the supporters at the the end of a Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid in London, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone and the players applaud the supporters at the the end of a Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid in London, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone gestures to the supporters at the the end of a Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Arsenal FC and Atletico Madrid in London, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will inaugurate the soaring central tower of Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia basilica when he visits Spain next month in a weeklong trip that will also take him to a migrant reception center in the Canary Islands, the Vatican said Wednesday.

The June 6-12 visit will first bring Leo to Madrid for meetings with the government, parliament and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. He will also preside over a prayer vigil with young people that will recall the last time a pope visited Spain: 2011, when Madrid hosted World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI.

In Barcelona, Leo will be on hand to mark the 100th anniversary, on June 10, of the death of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who designed Sagrada Familia, the world’s tallest church. Leo will celebrate an evening Mass in the basilica and inaugurate its Tower of Jesus Christ, the soaring central piece that was moved into place in February.

The tower brought Sagrada Familia to its maximum height, 172½ meters (around 566 feet) above Barcelona, but the building is still far from complete. When Benedict visited in 2010, he consecrated the basilica, and there will still be unfinished related business when Leo visits: Gaudí is on the path to possible sainthood, but he won't be canonized during the pope's trip, Spain's bishops said Wednesday.

The head of the Spanish Catholic bishops conference, Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, highlighted Leo’s planned address to parliament while in Spain as particularly significant. Only on rare occasions do popes address foreign legislatures, and the speeches often end up among the most noteworthy of a pontificate.

“I believe it’s of great importance,” said Argüello, because parliament “as the embodiment of national sovereignty, needs to reflect on what an ethical and spiritual reference means at a time of the undoubtedly necessary renewal of our democratic life.”

Leo is in many ways carrying out an intention of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, by visiting the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa which is the main gateway for migrants from Africa to enter Spain.

Francis had made reaching out to migrants and refugees a hallmark of his papacy, and Leo has followed suit by demanding dignified treatment of migrants, especially in his native United States. Francis had planned to visit the Canary Islands, even while staying away from the Spanish mainland for his entire 12-year pontificate, as he prioritized smaller destinations far from the centers of traditional Catholicism.

Spain’s government under Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has championed legal immigration at a time when many governments in Europe are trying to decrease migrant arrivals and step up deportations.

Underway in the Iberian nation of 50 million is a migrant amnesty measure that aims to legalize the status of an estimated 500,000 people the government says are living in Spain without authorization.

Conservative opposition parties have criticized the approach, especially the far-right Vox party, which has described the legalization push as an “attack on our identity.”

But Spain’s leftist government has said that the measure has the support of a broad coalition that includes the Catholic Church and many Spanish business leaders. Spain's population is aging, and Sánchez has repeatedly said that the country needs more workers to maintain its growing economy and contribute to social security.

Spain’s population now includes around 10 million foreign-born residents — or one in every five people. Many are from Latin America and Africa.

Leo will meet with organizations working with migrants in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. The following day he will meet with migrants at a reception center in Tenerife and separately with Spanish groups that work with them.

The Canary Islands are roughly 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the closest point in Africa, but to avoid security forces, many migrants attempt longer journeys that can take days or weeks.

The islands have been a steppingstone for migrants trying to reach Europe from West Africa and Morocco for decades. Arrivals peaked in 2024 with nearly 47,000 arrivals, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry statistics. Following pressure and deals between the European Union, Spain and the governments of Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, arrivals have fallen dramatically, with just over 2,000 migrants landing in the Canaries in the first four months of 2026.

A few weeks after Leo visits the Canary Islands, history's first U.S.-born pope will travel to the main migrant entry point to Europe, the Italian island of Lampedusa, Sicily, on July 4, to meet with migrants there. That's the same day the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence.

Suman Naishadham reported from Madrid, and Renata Brito from Barcelona, Spain.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV blesses a child as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV arrives as he holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)