WEBDESK: In an exciting UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night, Real Madrid vs Arsenal ended in a dramatic 2-1 win for the English side at Santiago Bernabéu. The victory sent Arsenal through to the semi-finals with a dominating 5-1 score on aggregate. They will now face French side PSG in the semi-finals.
The pre-match conversations had settled around Real Madrid and the ‘remontada’ that the Spanish team were expected to complete as they looked to recover from their 3-0 loss in the first leg. However, those comeback thoughts quickly faded as Arsenal stood firm.
After missing a panenka penalty earlier in the Real Madrid vs Arsenal game, Bukayo Saka bounced back in superb fashion after he dinked an excellent finish over Thibaut Curtois in the 65th minute to give Arsenal the lead.
However, the hosts were given a lifeline as just 2 minutes later, William Saliba lost the ball on the edge of his penalty area allowing Vinicius Junior to score into an empty net.
Arsenal stayed calm under pressure as Gabriel Martinelli scored in stoppage time after being sent through by makeshift Arsenal striker Mikel Merino, sealing the result for the visitors in this thrilling Real Madrid vs Arsenal showdown.
The Gunners did have to come through moments of adversity in the Real Madrid vs Arsenal game, with Saka’s early penalty miss giving the hosts a psychological boost.
Real Madrid then had a penalty of their own overturned following a five-minute VAR check later in the second half, after Declan Rice was wrongly adjudged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe.
Real Madrid vs Arsenal post-match comments:
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice (UCL MOTM) speaking to TNT Sport said, “It’s such a special night, a historic one for the club. We have the objective of playing the best and winning the competition.
“We had so much belief and confidence from that first leg and came here to win the game. We knew we were going to suffer but we knew we were going to win. We had it in our minds, then we did it real life. What a night.”
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta in his post-match interview, said, “One of the best nights in my football career. We played against a team with the biggest history. It has been an inspiration for all of us on this competition.”
“To be able to win the tie in the manner we have done, I think we have to be very proud of ourselves.”
The victory ranks as one of the club’s greatest in Europe and puts them into the last four of the competition for the first time since 2009 and only the third time in their history.
Elsewhere in the competition, Inter Milan held firm to draw 2-2 against Bayern Munich to book their place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in what proved to be Thomas Muller’s last game in the competition for Bayern Munich.
