Sid Lowe’s report has landed so I’ll leave you with that. Goodnight!
Arsenal reaction
Declan Rice
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.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
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.
The Champions League semi-finals
Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain
Internazionale v Barcelona
Full time: Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (agg: 1-5)
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.
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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.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (agg: 1-5; Martinelli 90+3)
The perfect finish for Arsenal!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Arsenal (agg: 1-4; Vinicius Jr. 67)
A shambles of an equaliser!
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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.
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GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Arsenal (agg: 0-4; Saka 65)
Bukayo Saka puts Arsenal in the semi-final with the most gorgeous team goal!
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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.
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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.
Half time: Real Madrid 0-0 Arsenal (agg: 0-3)
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.
45+4 min Real have been slightly better in the last 5-10 minutes, albeit without creating anything of note. They keep dumping crosses into the box, which doesn’t feel like the best way to maximise their attacking talent.
45+2 min A superb touch from Merino releases Odegaard and Arsenal have a three-on-three break, but Odegaard plays a fairly simple pass behind Martinelli. He’s had a disappointing first half.
45 min There will be seven minutes of added time because of all that VAR hi-jinks.
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43 min Vinicius Jr. wins another corner for Real, who are having probably their longest spell of sustained pressure. Rodrygo’s corner is headed away by Merino.
42 min Vazquez’s cross nicks off the head of Saliba and just evades the stretching Rudiger at the far post. Rodrygo’s corner bounces around the area before being cleared.
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41 min The corner is punched away by Raya. It feels like Real need to bring on Luka Modric at half-time; everything is so rushed.
40 min Vinicius Jr. wins a corner off Timber. Before it is taken, Rudiger throws Timber into the Arsenal net. That doesn’t count as a goal, Antonio.
39 min “It seems obvious to me that the way to speed up VAR decisions is to put VAR in charge,” writes Kim Thonger. “All the large language model needs to do is watch every game Jurgen Klinsmann played in to get a complete understanding of the arcane art of diving for a penalty.”
38 min Real have been poor. They look far too hyped-up, as if they’ve had too many cups of remontada before the game. That said, Arsenal have largely managed the game superbly.
37 min “I never normally think this but thank god for VAR!!” writes Mikel Arteta Peter Crosby. “They took ages but it was a difficult call, and they ended up getting it right. It is well disguised by Mbappe but absolutely a dive and just never a penalty. This is what Madrid does - they find some way to get themselves through - no matter what it takes. This would’ve been a super annoying way for them to get back into the game (and I’m a Spurs fan) and for once I’m happy for the VAR intervention.”
36 min David Raya is booked for timewasting. Thirty-six minutes down, 54 to go.
36 min “It’s clear what Real is missing is the world-class ba$tardry of Sergio Ramos,” says Graeme Neill, “primed to give Stone Cold Stunners to Odegaard and Saka and get away with them. (I’m definitely not still bitter about the 2018 Champions League final.)”
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35 min An Arsenal free-kick breaks for Timber, who shoots over from the edge of the area.
34 min “I’m in a social club in deepest Northumberland. It has eight TVs and every single one is tuned to the vital Premier League match that is Newcastle v Palace,” says Nick Parish. “I’ve considered asking if just one could be turned over to the Arsenal, but one soft southerner against a couple of dozen passionate Geordies seems bad odds. At least I’ve got you to keep me company. No pistachios here though, sadly.”
Have you looked down the back of the sofa?
32 min Saka finds Odegaard on the edge of the area. He tries to return it to Saka, by now unmarked, but overhits a relatively simple pass. That was a decent chance. Arsenal have a great chance to pick Real Madrid off here; they’re all over the place. But as we know, a Real goal would change everything. Arsenal should be looking to get this done before half-time.
31 min Mbappe, 30 yards ago, whistles a good effort that swerves wide of the far post. Real have been far too emotional in the first half hour. The last 10-20 minutes are the time for that.
29 min “One of the US commentators is making a big deal about the fact that Ødegaard was shaping up to take the penalty before handing it off to Saka,” says Joe Johnson. “To me, it read as an attempt as a ‘mind game’ on Courtois at best, and otherwise nothing much at all. What do you think?”
Yeah, that’s commonplace these days. Somebody else takes the ball to stop the planned taker being sledged or distracted. That said, most teams know who the opposition penalty taker is so in theory Real Madrid’s players could still have got in Saka’s grille.
No penalty!
28 min My word. This referee has steel in his b- well never mind. That means Rice’s yellow card is wiped off as well.
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27 min: The referee’s going to the monitor! This is chaos.
27 min They’ve been looking at it for three minutes. They may also be checking an offside against Mbappe.
26 min: VAR check ongoing Rice does put two hands around Mbappe. And while Mbappe made the most of it, I’m not sure this will be overturned.
25 min If the decision stands, Rice will miss the first leg of the semi-final should Arsenal get there.
24 min The ball was tossed into the box and flicked on in the vague direction of Mbappe, who felt Rice’s arm around him and went over. It’s nowhere near as clear as the first one – I don’t think it’s a penalty, in truth – and it’s being checked by VAR.
Penalty to Real Madrid!
23 min Rice is furious, thinks Mbappe has dived, and it’s all kicking off. Rice has been booked as well.
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21 min Mbappe fronts Saliba up in the area, then tries to veer outside him. Saliba reads it, gets his body between man and ball and allows it to run behind for a goalkick. That’s majestic defending. If there’s a better centre-half in the world, I’ve not seen him.
20 min Bellingham runs at Timber on the left and fizzes a terrific ball, right across the face. Rodrygo stretches but can’t quite reach it.
19 min “Well, I suppose it Keeps It Alive As A Spectacle,” weeps Charles Antaki. “But Arsenal fans would rather it didn’t, to be frank.”
Thing is, but for the penalty it’s been a superb start for Arsenal. Real look frantic, even desperate, and David Raya’s gloves remain unsullied.
18 min I have no idea what happened with the penalty, whether Saka mishit it or simply had a brainfade. At first I assumed the former – had it gone down the middle he’d have scored – but it was a long way to the left of centre. I’m not sure Bukayo Saka is capable of miskicking the ball that far.
17 min Vinicius Jr runs at Timber and pokes the ball out of play. A corner is given to Real, wrongly I think, and it leads to a spell of pressure in which Lucas Vazquez has two shots blocked. The first, a heatseeker from range, almost knocked the defender (possibly Kiwior) off his feet.
16 min Arsenal need to remind themselves that a) it’s still 3-0 and b) they’ve been the better team so far.
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15 min “I love Justin Kavanagh’s work as much as the next man,” writes Mac Millings, “but Jude Bellingham trying to dominate the narrative can be counterproductive, Kylian Mbappe playing like it’s a World Cup Final is only useful if it’s the last 10 minutes, and as for Real channeling their inner Luton Town, well, I guess there are going to be some rare old nights at the likes of Oakwell and Bloomfield Road next season...”
14 min Now Rice is indicating that he’s been hit by something thrown from the crowd. That was a horrible penalty from Saka. The line was about halfway between the centre of the goal and Courtois’ right-hand post. Courtois almost dived past the ball but was able to slap it away with his left hand.
Courtois saves Saka's penalty!
13 min It was a poor penalty, a Panenka that didn’t go straight down the middle, and Courtois slapped it round the post for a corner.
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12 min Bukayo Saka will take the penalty…
12 min Real are fuming but they don’t really have a case. He pulled Merino back, and if you do that you’re asking for trouble.
Penalty to Arsenal!
11 min Raul Asencio pulled Merino back at a Rice corner a couple of minutes ago. The referee was told to go the monitor, and replays showed it was a clear penalty. Asencio is booked.
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10 min Lovely play from Rice, who reads and then nicks a pass from Bellingham on the edge of the Arsenal area. He surges forward on the break and finds Saka, who is really close to wriggling away from Tchouameni in the area.
Hang on, there’s a VAR check for an Arsenal penalty.
9 min Incidentally, that Saka shot in the sixth minute was a lot closer than I realised at the time. It would have been a screamer.
8 min Saka beats Alaba with contemptuous ease and curls a low shot from 20 yards that is pushed away to his right by the diving Courtois. That’s a pretty good save, though it wasn’t right in the corner.
Arsenal have started really well, particularly their wide forwards Martinelli and Saka.
7 min Rodrygo beats Lewis-Skelly and crosses from the byline; Saliba heads away. He’s such an important player tonight.
6 min Saka, on the right side of the area, pings a cracking shot with his right foot that fades past the far post. Courtois was certainly worried, though I think it was always going wide.
5 min “Greetings from California, the source of 99% of the country’s pistachio production,” writes Peter Oh. “I join Pistachio Peadar in Poland in being utterly reliant on your coverage, due to my life choices and current circumstances.
“I’m about 79% confident that Arsenal will see this out, 89% sure that Real Madrid will make it very interesting, and 99% sure that it will be nuttier than a bowl of pistachios.”
4 min Alaba is booked for wiping out Saka; that’s an abysmal challenge. Just before that Real broke dangerously through Vinicius Jr, whose cross was booted away. Arsenal are pressing high, which is a) admirable and b) what they did at the Etihad in April 2023 when Kevin De Bruyne put them over his knee.
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2 min: Mbappe goal disallowed for offside He was miles off, so there’s nothing to see, but it was a neat chested finish from Vinicius Jr’s cross/shot. The noise is incredible.
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1 min And they’re off, a couple of minutes later than advertised. Arsenal, in their black change strip, kick off from right to left as we watch.
These gentlemen are about to take the field. The atmosphere is spectacular.
Real Madrid (4-3-3) Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Asencio, Rudiger, Alaba; Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Substitutes: Fran Gonzalez, Sergio Mestre, Modric, Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Dani Ceballos, Fran Garcia, Brahim.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Gower, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Rosiak.
Referee Francois Letexier (France).
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“Hi Rob,” writes Peadar de Burca. “I was really looking forward to watching tonight’s game here in south-west Poland, but seeing as I don’t have a television, I needed my friends Marcin and Agata to invite me over. Thing is they’re Man U and Arsenal fans respectively. He’s sore as hell over the big pile of manure that is United’s season and Agata is desperately worried the Gooners are going to blow it and she doesn’t want me, a Liverpool fan, lording it over them.
“So no invite and here’s me in my Bleak House, sans beer and crisps, just knowing this is going to be the game of the season. But you know what? I don’t care. I’ve got the Guardian’s MBM. Rob Smyth at the wheel. And I think there might be one or two pistachios down the back of the couch. Let’s do this.”
I think that might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about my work. Shall I compare thee to a pistachio down the back of the couch?
“If Real can summon the spirit of the remontada,” begins Justin Kavanagh. “If Jude Bellingham can dominate the narrative; if Killian Mbappe can play like it’s a World Cup Final; if Real can channel their inner Luton Town. That’s a lot of ifs. But… I’m trusting Arsenal to keep the head when all about are losing theirs (looking at you, Camavinga, last week), and trust themselves when all men doubt them. They’ll fill the unforgiving 90/120 minutes with 5400/7200 seconds worth of distance run (for the stats fans) and they’ll be men tonight, my son.”
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Mikel Arteta's pre-match thoughts
The team are very focussed, very determined. We know the challenge and opportunity ahead; go and embrace it.
[On the first 15 minutes] It’s always very important to start with a positive vibe and to feel like you are controlling and dominating the game. We will try to do that. But it’s not only about the start.
At this level every action matters, every action changes the momentum and the way the game is developing. We’re very focussed and very determined. Let’s go for it.
“Still keenly remember listening to Derby County’s rare foray into European football when they travelled to Madrid for what was to be a fateful night after the incredible 4-1 victory at the Baseball Ground,” writes Colum Fordham. “I still bear the scars. Hope for Arsenal fans that they are not similarly smitten by the remontada. Should be a cracker of a match.”
“Is there really any point watching this game?” asks Matt Dony. “I mean, is there really any point even playing it in the first place? It’s Madrid in Europe. We all know what’s going to happen. They’ll have a blindingly good 10-minute spell towards the end of the first half, where they score two goals. There’ll be a scruffy third goal around the 70th minute, then they’ll willpower a winner sometime after the 87th minute. And there is nothing Arsenal can do about it.”
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The emergence of the Arsenal players for their warm-up is the cue for the home fans to pay tribute to Joe Root. The noise is quite something, especially as we’re still half an hour away from kick off.
Jude Bellingham on the task ahead
Tonight’s winners will play Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, with the first leg at home of 29 or 30 April and the second leg in Paris a week later.
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The players on a yellow card
Real Madrid Lucas Vazquez, Rudiger, Vinicius Jr, Modric, Endrick.
Arsenal Timber, Partey, Rice, Martinelli.
Chill out, Nicholas Jover
Team news: Arsenal unchanged from first leg
Carlo Ancelotti makes two changes from the first leg at the Emirates. Lucas Vazquez and Aurelien Tchouameni replace Luka Modric and the suspended Eduardo Camavinga. That means Fede Valverde will move into midfield.
Arsenal, as you’d expect, are unchanged from the first leg.
Real Madrid (4-3-3) Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Asencio, Rudiger, Alaba; Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Substitutes: Fran Gonzalez, Sergio Mestre, Modric, Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Dani Ceballos, Fran Garcia, Brahim.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Merino, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Gower, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Rosiak.
Referee Francois Letexier.
Mikel Arteta on the challenge awaiting Arsenal
The feeling is excitement. We want to create history. We are trying to do something consistently, to start to dominate European competition. This is a great opportunity. For sure, we are convinced.
‘So you’re saying there’s a chance’
Preamble
Noventi minuti en el Bernabéu son molto longo.
Those were the words of Real Madrid’s Juanito after his side lost 3-1 to Internazionale in the first leg of a Uefa Cup semi-final in 1985-86. Ninety minutes at the Bernabeu are very long.
Turns out 120 minutes were even longer. Real savaged a good Inter side 5-1 after extra-time and went on to win the competition. It was their fifth spectacular European comeback in just two seasons, all at the Bernabeu, and cemented the legend of the remontada.
The team, the myth, the legend. Real still dine out on it, and Jude Bellingham helped himself to seconds at yesterday’s press conference. You can understand why. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have produced some remarkable acts of escapology in recent years, but the aura of the Bernabeu has presented in short periods of utter madness rather than across a full 90 or 120 minutes.
That 1985-86 season was the last time Real overturned a first-leg deficit of at least three goals. Their victims were Borussia Monchengladbach, who won 5-1 in Germany but went out on away goals when Santillana scored in the 88th minute at the Bernabeu to make it 4-0. The last time Real did in the European Cup was against Derby in November 1975.
Real will feel a proper remontada is long overdue; Arsenal’s will fancy that their defence, which hasn’t conceded three or more in a game since December 2023*, can deal with the cauldron. The prize – a first Champions League semi-final since 2009 – is well worth suffering for.
Kick off 8pm.
*The last team to score three against Arsenal were… Luton Town, who lost a seven-goal thriller at Kenilworth Road in December 2023. That was 79 games ago in all competitions.
