Arsenal moved one giant step closer to winning the club’s first Champions League title by knocking defending champions Real Madrid out at their Santiago Bernabeu fortress on Thursday (AEST).
The Gunners entered the quarter-final return leg with a commanding 3-0 lead from their superb first up performance last week in London.
But Madrid fans, some wearing ‘Yes we can’ shirts, still believed and they had every reason too given the club’s staggering and unrivalled success in Europe.
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Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates scoring with teammate Gabriel Martinelli. Getty
They rose to their feet and roared when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois turned away Bukayo Saka’s cheeky first half penalty attempt.
But Saka continued to trouble Madrid with his speed and skill and he silenced the storied stadium with an ice cool finish in the 65th minute.
Vinicius Jr equalised two minutes later after picking William Saliba’s pocket but Carlo Ancelotti’s star-studded squad couldn’t make a further dent in Arsenal’s comfortable cushion.
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Gabriel Martinelli then scored in stoppage time to give Arsenal a 2-1 win on the night and a commanding 5-1 aggregate triumph.
Arsenal has never won the Champions League.
This is their third appearance in the semi-finals and their first in 16 years.
“It’s a masterpiece, really, from (Arsenal manager Mikel) Arteta,” Craig Foster said on Stan Sport.
The Gunners will play Paris Saint-Germain in the semis.
“All of these (Madrid) supporters are in a state of shock,” Stan Sport’s Katie Shanahan said from the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s hopes of staging another comeback took a big hit when a five minute VAR check overturned a penalty for man of the match Declan Rice’s hold on Kylian Mbappe with the game at 0-0.
“It’s a tough moment,” Madrid’s Lucas Vazquez said.
“We tried but in the end we couldn’t achieve our goal. We’ll come back stronger. Madrid always does.”
Declan Rice of Arsenal looks on whilst Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid lays on the pitch. Getty
Mbappe injured his right ankle and was jeered by part of the crowd after a lacklustre performance.
Mbappe, who is still looking for a first Champions League title, had to be replaced by Brahim Diaz in the 75th minute after twisting his right ankle.
Most of the fans at the Bernabeu jeered the France star when his substitution was announced.
Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid grimaces as he leaves the pitch after picking up an injury. Getty
He was able to walk off the field by himself, but was limping a bit.
Mbappe, who hasn’t scored in five games in all competitions, had no attempts on target.
The injury comes 10 days before the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in Sevilla.
In Thursday’s other quarter-final, Inter Milan advanced with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich.
Inter and Bayern drew 2-2 in the second leg and the Italian giants will play Barcelona in the semis.
Former Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard scored against his old club to help Milan through.
It was Pavard’s first goal for Inter, after the France international joined in 2023.
Harry Kane had leveled the quarter-final early in the second half but Inter swiftly turned the game around with goals from Lautaro Martinez and Pavard on a blustery night in Milan.
Eric Dier headed in the equaliser on the night, in the 76th minute, to set up a nervy finale.
Inter had stunned Bayern last week, winning 2-1 to inflict the German team’s first home defeat in the competition in almost four years.
It was a wet and windy night at San Siro and the gusts caused some misplaced passes.
The visitors had a few early opportunities, with Pavard charging down an effort by Michael Olise and Alessandro Bastoni timing a sliding tackle to perfection to also deny Olise, who had gone clear on goal.
Inter managed to slow things down after the frantic start and began to have opportunities of its own.
Hakan Çalhanoglu went closest in the 33rd minute with one of his trademark shots from distance that flew just wide of the right upright.
Bayern broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half.
Inter failed to properly clear a cross and the ball came out to Leon Goretzka, who fed Kane and the England forward steadied himself before firing past Federico Dimarco and into the far bottom corner.
But Inter equalised just seven minutes later.
Lautaro miscontrolled a corner but was quickest to react and managed to bundle it into the bottom left corner.
Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez. Manu Fernandez via AP
The Argentina World Cup winner leapt onto the advertising hoardings in front of the Inter fans and stretched out his arms.
There were even more rapturous celebrations three minutes later when Pavard headed in another corner.
The Inter fans were in for a nervy final 14 minutes, however, as Serge Gnabry’s cross found Dier at the byline, and his header strangely looped into the far top corner from the tightest of angles. – with AP
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