History repeated itself as we beat Real Madrid in the Bernabeu again to book a date with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals.
Bukayo Saka missed an early penalty that would have handed us a virtually unassailable four-goal aggregate lead, but he redeemed himself on 65 minutes by finishing off a fine move to make it 4-0 on aggregate.
Two minutes later Vinicius Jr pounced on some defensive hesitation to get one back, but in second half stoppage time Gabriel Martinelli raced clear to win the game as we became the first English side to win twice at the Bernabeu and stretch our unbeaten European run to eight matches – our longest run since reaching the final in 2006. Now we’re only one step away from returning to the showpiece again.
Penalty drama
A boisterous Bernabeu greeted the players onto the field as they attempted to breathe some life into the tie, but history was on our side as you had to go back gnarly four decades for the last time Madrid overturned a three-goal first leg deficit in Europe – and that never looked like happening against our resolute defence.
Despite having a three-goal cushion in our back pocket, we weren’t in any mood to sit back and protect what we had, and showed that intent early on. Saka flashed a shot wide after Jurrien Timber won the ball back well on the edge of the Madrid box, before the winger forced Thibaut Courtois into a decent save with a similar effort from 20 yards.
From the resulting corner on 10 minutes, he was given a huge opportunity to virtually put the tie to bed when the VAR spotted Raul Ascencio pulling back Mikel Merino as the ball was delivered into the box, and a penalty was awarded. Saka stepped up to take it, but saw his paneka attempt flicked away by Courtois to fuel the home crowd with optimism.
But more spot-kick soap opera was to follow midway through the half. Lucas Vazquez’s cross was flicked on by Ascensio towards Kylian Mbappe, who went down in the vicinity of Declan Rice. It looked soft, but referee Francois Letexier instantly pointed to the spot to the disbelief of our players, but thankfully VAR Stephanie Frappert saw common sense and after five minutes, the decision was overturned.
Those heart-stopping moments could have knocked us off our stride, but we showed plenty of courage to continue to keep our opponents at bay. A host of blocked shots and solid defensive actions saw us restrict Los Blancos to no shots on target in the first half, and indeed we came closest to scoring when in the lengthy stoppage-time period, Gabriel Martinelli hit a shot from a tight angle at Courtois.
Goals at either end
10 more minutes of the second half would elapse until David Raya finally dirtied his gloves, and it was simple work for our shot-stopper to stop Rodrygo’s curler from inside the box.
But on 64 minutes we added another goal to our cushion to book our spot in the semi-finals. A fine passing move involving Saka, Odegaard and Rice saw our skipper slip a precise through ball into Saka, who coolly dinked the ball over Courtois to score his fifth goal in seven Champions League matches this term, and send the Gooners in the away end into raptures.
Our four-goal advantage lasted just 111 seconds though as a mix-up at the back allowed Real to swiftly equalise on the night. Raya rolled the ball out to William Saliba who had been magnificent all game, but on this occasion he dallied on the ball and Vinicius Jr stole it off him and hooked it into the empty net to take us back to where we started.
Martinelli wins it
But we didn’t allow the hosts to capitaise on that moment, and indeed Mbappe left the field having not tested Raya thanks to some fine defending from Saliba and Jakob Kiwior.
Odegaard nearly won it for us late on when he curled wide back on his old stomping ground, and Brahim Diaz and Endrick spurned decent chances before we got the goal that crowned off a magnificent two-leg display.
A swift counter-attack saw Merino send Martinelli through on goal from the halfway line, and he dispatched the ball past Courtois to give us yet another moment to remember from these pair of games against Madrid, who have still yet to beat us in four encounters.
But most importantly, the result secured a third-ever Champions League semi-final for us, and thoughts will swiftly turn to the visit of the French title winners at the end of the month.
FACTS AND STATS
We are unbeaten in our four games against Real Madrid in European competition (W3 D1), while only one side have ever gone more consecutive games against Los Blancos in the European Cup/ Champions League without losing (7 for Lyon, September 2005-February 2011).
We have equalled their longest winning run away from home in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (4). Indeed, the only previous time they won four in a row, the fourth game of that run was also a victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Each of Real Madrid’s last four eliminations in the Champions League have been against English sides, while we have eliminated the reigning champions from the previous season for just the second time (previously doing so versus Milan in 2007/08).
Mikel Arteta is the 10th different Spanish manager to reach a Champions League semi-final, with only Italy (11) having more different coaches do so in the competition’s history.
Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 15 goals in 16 Champions League appearances (nine goals, six assists). Of players with 1,000+ minutes played for the Gunners, Saka has the best minutes per goal or assist ratio (87) for us in the competition.
William Saliba made 12 clearances, the most by a player in a Champions League match since Per Mertesacker v Bayern Munich in March 2014 (12).
With tonight’s appearance, Luka Modric has now played more European Cup/Champions League games than any other outfielder in Real Madrid’s history (134), overtaking Karim Benzema (133).
What’s next
We return to Premier League action on Easter Sunday when we head to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town, before Crystal Palace head to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, April 23.
