Arsenal have booked their place in the Champions League semi-final after beating Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu in emphatic fashion, to win the quarter-final 5-1 across the two legs.
Bukayo Saka missed a penalty early in the game before making up for it by putting Arsenal in front in the 65th minute, before a William Saliba error gifted 15-time European champions Madrid an equaliser two minutes later. Gabriel Martinelli, who was fabulous on the night, sealed the win with a convincing finish in the dying minutes.
Saliba’s error was a blip in an otherwise supremely organised performance from the Gunners and now they’re set to face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final. Declan Rice was deservedly handed the Player of the Match Award for another dominant display in midfield.
“Rice, he was monumental,” Ally McCoist said on TNT Sports. “He was the best player over the two games by some stretch.”
Following the game, Rice hailed manager Mikel Arteta and said that he believes Arsenal have what it takes to go all the way and win the Champions League.
“It is such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We had a objective in this competition – we want to win this competition.
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“We had so much belief and confidence that we had enough to come here and win the game. We had it in our mind and we have done it in real life. What a night for the club.
“It is massive. I sensed it before I turned up to the club that we were on an upward trajectory. In this competition we have done amazingly well. We fully believe it and we have full trust in the manager – he is unbelievable.
“The Semi-final, it is massive for us and we want to take tonight in.”
Arsenal full-back Miles Lewis-Skelly also shared his thoughts post-match: “It was incredible. When you see it [Bernabeu] on TV it is a lot different to what it is live.
“The fans don’t make it easy for us. As long as we stuck together and backed each other through the high and lows we would be fine.”
Mikel Arteta: Declan Rice ‘made the difference’
Arteta was asked following the game where this victory ranks in terms of his moments in football, and appeared emotional when responding.
“One of the best nights in my football career for sure and a really special one. We played against the team with the biggest history in this competition and an inspiration to us all.
“We have to be proud of ourselves I’m really proud of them. After two or three minutes you have to realise anything is possible in this stadium. One goal and game on, anything can happen. Fortunately things went our way.”
On reaching the semifinals: “Its the third time in our history that we have reached the semifinals and the youngsters and me have to work together to achieve something big.”
On the difference this season: “Last season we started well against Bayern and made two mistakes. Then we started to doubt and the second game wasn’t good enough. Today was different, and in London, we had the belief we could do it.”
On facing PSG: “Anything can happen in this competition. I watched the game last night and I know the manager really well. They are a different team this year but so are we.”
On Declan Rice: “He was immense and he made the difference today.”
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