Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (1-5 on aggregate)
by Layth Yousif
at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu

SECOND-HALF goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabi Martinelli were enough to achieve the result Arsenal required to visit Paris in the spring, as Mikel Arteta’s magnificent side beat Real Madrid 2-1 to reach the last four of the Champions League, where they will now play PSG.

For when it came down to it, the Spanish aristocrats failed to achieve their much-spoken about “remontada” (comeback), amid, it has to be said, the flailing noise around their utterly self-inflated opinion of their underwhelming team.

Because, quite simply, myths and legends don’t win you games against Arteta’s mighty Arsenal these days after an utterly magnificent performance for the ages.

The noise had barely died down from the tremendous pre-match Tifo when a shocking challenge on Bukayo Saka resulted in a yellow card for David Alana from referee Francois Letexier, who Arsenal were hoping was going to be strong in the cauldron that is the Bernabeu.

The French referee certainly showed the cojones Los Blancos’ boss Carlo Ancelotti spoke about in his pre-match press conference on 11 minutes, when Letexier awarded a spot-kick to the visitors after Asensio pulled Mikel Merino during Declan Rice’s corner into a crowded box.

Up stepped Bukayo Saka, but to the delight of the cacophonous Bernabeu, the 23-year-old dinked his kick, with a poor Paneka-style effort, which allowed the diving Thibaut Courtois to reach the ball with his left hand, to palm the ball away. 

Much to the agony of the distraught Saka, and the 5,000 travelling Gooners in the away end and dotted around the stadium.

As if the thunderous noise levels at the Bernabeu couldn’t get any louder, referee Letexier awarded a penalty to Real Madrid on 23 minutes, after Rice was adjudged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe, with the Gunners midfielder booked for his troubles.

Yet, after an inordinate time pondering Letexier’s decision, VAR overturned the award, this time much to the delight of the visiting support.

In such a fevered auditorium, the half-time statistics that showed Madrid failed to have a shot on goal, and only 15 touches in their opponents’ box, it was testament more to the mystique of the Bernabeu, and the crowd that were convinced their heroes were to achieve the “remontada.”

With the Gunners 45 minutes away from a semi-final date with Paris in the spring, we were about to find out.

The Gunners came out after the interval with their continued positive mindset, with Rice sending a free-kick into the box for Merino, who headed over. 

The can-do attitude also underlined by Arteta on the sidelines urging Raya to start an attack immediately after the Gunners keeper gathered from Vinicus Jnr, shortly afterwards.

With the majestic gladiatorial animosity between Rice and Bellingham nearly bubbling over, the contest was at a crucial stage when Saka broke into the box after a sublime through ball from Mikel Merino, to fire past Courtois and put the Gunners 1-0 ahead on 65 minutes.

However, just as the hordes of Gunners fans massed high up in the gods were still celebrating, Madrid levelled through Vinicius Jnr a mere 120 seconds later to make it 1-1 on the night, 4-1 on aggregate — even if the gap did not feel as big as it looked on paper — or on the scoreboard on Bernabeu’s extremely large surround sound TV screens that hung over the pitch.

Not when the mystical, mythical Bernabeu still had a say in proceedings. 

Yet, it was the visitors who made their mark, when Gabi Martinelli broke through in the third minute of injury time to make it 2-1 to Arsenal and 5-1 on aggregate to underline that myths and legends don’t win football matches against this Arsenal side.

Speaking after the match, Arteta said: “I’m so happy, I think it’s the third time in our history, so I have to be very proud to be there again. 

“The team has shown incredible ambition, courage and willingness to compete against any opposition. It’s not only the fact that we are there, I think.”