Arsenal took over Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night after a brilliant dominant play of 2-1 win over Real Madrid to secure their first semifinals in the UEFA Champions League since 16 years ago. The Gunners recorded 5-1 on aggregate.
The English team will be playing their semi-finals against a strong French side, Paris Saint-Germain, which defeated Liverpool, Premier League leaders, in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
It was a very poor night for Real as the Spanish giants could not fire a shot on target in their first half, a story they had never encountered in the Santiago Bernabéu in over a year, despite a pre-match conversation with a popular Remontada.
Arsenal were almost perfect on the pitch with a strong defense and a brilliant forward which rendered Real Madrid powerless in the quarterfinals.
Arsenal recorded an early opportunity to net into the Real Madrid post after Raul Asensio committed a rough attack against Mikel Merino in the box, but Bukayo Saka’s Panenka penalty could not make a goal and the effort was comfortably pushed away by Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Not long after the save, Madrid got a penalty that was later canceled after Declan Rice was mistakenly judged to have committed a foul against Kylian Mbappé in the box.
The game was a heated one between the two great teams, but after the first hour, the deadlock was broken.
Bukayo Saka pushed further as he finally made up for the penalty he missed by brilliantly chipping the Real Madrid goalkeeper through an assist by Merino, silencing Real Madrid’s fans with a celebration mimicking Thierry Henry’s iconic 2006 pose.
Whilst Arsenal’s fans’ voices still lit up the stadium, Real Madrid fired in a short, making it a draw. Vinícius Júnior dispossessed William Saliba by firing into a nearly empty post to relive the 15th time Champions League winner.
Against expectations that the equalizer would weaken the Gunners, they went further to build their defense while their front continued to pressure Real Madrid’s defense.
Real Madrid’s woes continue, failing to secure another shot on target 25 minutes after the equalizer from Vinicius, courtesy of Arsenal’s brilliant defense.
The final goal that gave Arsenal their win in the second half happened during stoppage time with pressure from Madrid, which shows their desperation. Gabriel Martinelli fired into the Madrid net with Courtois being unable to do much.
Declan Rice was the man to watch out for with his outstanding performances against the team in England and Spain. He scored two goals in the first leg at the Emirates stadium while contributing well to the win in Madrid, where he made two important tackles and a game-high four interceptions. He was a reason for the great display in the midfield.
Arsenal will have to keep their eyes on and rely on the efforts of Declan Rice when they play their semifinals against PSG, especially with Thomas Partey suspended for the yellow card he received.