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Sid Lowe’s report has landed so I’ll leave you with that. Goodnight!
It’s an historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition – we want to play the best teams and win this competition. There was a lot of talk about them coming back because they’ve done it so many times before, but we had a belief and confidence that we’d win the game. We had it in our mind, and we did it in real life. What a night for the club.
Before I came to the club I sensed we were on an upward trajectory. It’s been tough in the Premier League – we lost out by a point last year and this year it’s slipped away for us – but in this competition we’ve done amazingly well. We have full trust in this manager; he’s unbelievable. The semi-finals is massive for us. We just want to take tonight in, then it’s PSG who are an amazing team.
[On the non-penalty] I knew it wasn’t a pen. Look, I had my arm on him but you have to do that in the box. I’m an honest guy. I was really confident it would be overturned.
When you see [the Bernabeu] on TV it’s a lot different to when you come live. It was incredible. When I first walked out, it’s a lot you know, but I just tried to take in the moment and have fun.
The fans here don’t make it easy for you but we knew if we stuck together we’d be fine.
- Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain
- Internazionale v Barcelona
A glorious night for Arsenal, one of the best in their European history. They are into the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 having battered a star-studded Real Madrid. An even tougher test awaits them in the semis. That’s for tomorrow: right now a beaming Mikel Arteta is hugging all his players like never before. Arsenal were magnificent.
What a result for Arsenal! Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
90+5 min: Arsenal substitutions Kieran Tierney, Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko replace Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Martinelli and a very sweaty, entirely magnificent Declan Rice.
What a performance! A cross was headed out to Merino, who waited for Martinelli to make a run from inside his own half and slid a nice pass down the middle. Martinelli scooted away from Fran Garcia, opened his body and placed a shot into the far corner. That’s outstanding, and richly deserved.
The perfect finish for Arsenal!
The cherry on the icing on the cake for Arsenal! Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
90+2 min Odegaard, who would love a goal against his old club, turns smartly on the edge of the area and pings a rising drive that is saved at the second attempt by Courtois.
90+2 min “Declan Rice has given a perfect midfielder’s yin and yang over two legs,” says Justin Kavanagh. “His goals decided the home leg, and his defensive brilliance and leadership has swung this away leg tonight.”
90+1 min Five minutes of added time. Endrick shoots just wide after good play by Vinicius Jr., the one player who has tried to make something happen all night.
90 min Brahim Diaz’a shot is comfortably saved by Raya.
89 min Arsenal haven’t just beaten Real Madrid, they’ve battered them across two legs. You can make a decent argument that the 4-1 aggregate scoreline flatters Real.
88 min Arsenal will miss Partey in that first leg against PSG, who are so smooth in midfield. Jorginho can fill in but he’s not as mobile as Partey. You could push Rice back to No6 but he’s so good as a No8 these days; it’s a tricky decision.
85 min Rudiger is belatedly booked for clattering Merino. Partey gets involved and is also given a yellow card – a costly one, because it means he’ll miss the first leg of the semi-final. Not since Terry Fenwick against Argentina in 1986 has a player got away with as many yellow-card offences as Rudiger tonight.
Mikel Merino gets walloped by Antonio Rudiger. Photograph: MB Media/Getty Images
84 min There have been so many outstanding individual performances tonight: Kiwior, Saliba (with one exception), Saka (with one exception), Timber, Lewis-Skelly but most of all Declan Rice.
83 min Pound for pound, this might be Arsenal’s best-ever European performance across two legs. Juventus in 1979-80 and 2005-06 come to mind, likewise Real in 2005-06 and Milan in 2007-08. That was the first time Arsenal eliminated the European champions; this is the second.
81 min Odegaard curls not far wide of the far post after a good Arsenal break sparked by Lewis-Skelly, whose performance has had Rio Ferdinand purring on TNT Sports.
80 min Kiwior nips in front of Endrick to head a cross calmly back to Raya. He’s been terrific.
77 min: Arsenal substitution Leandro Trossard replaces Bukayo Saka, who muffed a penalty and still covered himself in glory. The kid is a credit to humanity, never mind football.
75 min: Real Madrid substitution And another. Kylian Mbappe, who has had a miserable night, is replaced by Brahim Diaz.
75 min: Real Madrid substitution Luka Modric replaces Raul Asencio.
74 min Mbappe is down after hurting himself while fouling Rice. While he is treated we’re seeing replays of Saka’s finish. It was just beautiful, even more so because of what happened with the penalty.
73 min The other quarter-final is a ding-dong thriller. You can follow that with Michael Butler.
72 min Rice charges into the area and is about to shoot when Tchouameni makes a fine challenge. That Vinicius Jr. equaliser hasn’t led to an anything resembling an onslaught.
70 min “Loving the sheer absence of jeopardy in this one,” writes Billy Ditchburn. “I’d almost like to see Real eat their own arms and legs to get through this, just to watch the utter carnage PSG will wreak on them in the semis. But then, I’d kind of like to see Arsenal pop the remontada and just see them off here.
“I can find it in my heart to like Millwall – even after they beat my Boro at the weekend – but when I try to find a positive sentiment for Real, it’s like fumbling down the back of a settee where there are no pistachios.”
PSG v Arsenal is one helluva semi-final. If Arsenal are going to win this, they’ll have done it the hardest way.
69 min I told you Saliba was the best centre-half in the world.
The look on William Saliba’s face says it all. Photograph: Diego Souto/Getty Images
Raya rolls the ball out to Saliba on the edge of the area. He has no idea that Vinicius Jr. is on his blindside and takes a touch. That allows Vinicius Jr. to nip in and lift the ball into the empty net with Raya still stranded on the far side of the area.
A shambles of an equaliser!
Vinicius Junior pulls one back after an Arsenal calamity at the back. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images
Saka collected a flick-on down the right, laid it back to Odegaard and started to wander infield. Odegaard played a give-and-go with Rice and then pushed the ball across to Merino, who slid a neat pass down the side to put Saka through on goal in the inside-left channel. Saka went for another chip, same as the penalty, but this time he connected perfectly to tease it over the outrushing Courtois and into the net. What a wonderful goal.
Bukayo Saka puts Arsenal in the semi-final with the most gorgeous team goal!
Bukayo Saka! Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
64 min Valverde’s cross is headed over by Endrick in front of the near post. It was slightly behind him, a very difficult chance.
63 min I don’t want to take anything away from Arsenal, who have produced a textbook away performance, but Real Madrid have been desperately poor.
61 min Triple substitution for Real Madrid Endrick, Dani Ceballos and Fran Garcia replace David Alaba, Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez.
60 min Lewis-Skelly is down and in pain. No wonder: Rudiger trod on him in a very delicate area. Whether it was deliberate, nobody knows but there’s no sanction.
59 min Valverde surges forward on the break and tries to find Mbappe in space on the left. Rice, who has been outstanding tonight and was vaguely competent last week, makes an excellent interception.
57 min Rodrygo tries to score from a corner on the left. Raya has to move smartly across his line to punch over the bar.
56 min Kiwior makes a fine challenge on Vinicius Jr., who was leading a two-on-two break. Vinicius Jr. is able to pick up the loose ball but by now there are several defenders back and he shoots straight at Raya from distance.
55 min Arsenal look as comfortable as they did in the first half. We know the roof can fall in at the Bernabeu – Manchester City were in total control in the semi-final of 2022 – but right now it’s hard to see anything other than an Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain semi-final.
53 min Bellingham gets the wrong side of Rice in the area, running onto a good pass from Lucas Vazquez. Rice gets back to make an excellent challenge at the expense of a corner. Rodrygo takes, Mbappe heads over at the near post.
52 min Bellingham wins the ball off Rice but leaves a bit on him in the process. The two shape to square up but then remember King and country.
Think of England, lads. Photograph: Óscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images
51 min Rice’s free-kick is headed over by Merino, 15 yards out.
48 min Rodrygo’s shot deflects behind for a Real Madrid corner. It’s driven deep and volleyed away by Saka.
47 min A good cross from Lucas Vazquez is headed away superbly by Saliba. He’s been quietly immense.
46 min Real Madrid, who were sent out early by Carlo Ancelotti, begin the second half. No substitutions.
“The longer this stays goalless, the more worried the Gunners should get?” wonders Krishnamoorthy V. “A goal halfway through second half is enough to open the floodgates. I see a red card coming in the second half.”
Only one? It’s not beyond the realms that Real will implode completely.
Half-time reading
This fantastic team await tonight’s winners in the semi-final.
“I wasn’t expecting Real Madrid’s gameplan to be inspired by David Moyes’ Manchester United 81 crosses vs Fulham,” sniffs Hugh Molloy.
With one enormous exception, Bukayo Saka’s errant Panenka, that was a near perfect first half for Arsenal. Real Madrid were dreadful, far too wired, but Arsenal managed the game superbly and David Raya didn’t have a single save to make. The closest Real came was when they were awarded a penalty for a perceived pull on Kylian Mbappe on Declan Rice. After a five-minute VAR check, the decision was overturned.
45+5 min: Good save by Courtois! Rice runs to the edge of the area and finds Martinelli, who fizzes a low drive from a tight angle. Courtois is perfectly positioned and gets down to his left to push it away.
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