BREAKING: Arsenal thrash Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to secure Champions League semifinal spot

Bukayo Saka scored a goal and missed a penalty as Arsenal held off Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals in an incident-packed match at the Bernabeu.

Arsenal had a 3-0 aggregate lead to defend after their superb victory in the first leg last week – and they were given the chance to silence the noisy home support when they were awarded a 13th-minute penalty.

Saka stepped up but his weak, dinked effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois.

However, the England forward made amends for his miss when he effectively killed off the tie with a fantastic chipped second-half finish over Courtois after Mikel Merino’s clever pass.

Real hit back just two minutes later when a terrible mistake from William Saliba gifted Vinicius Junior with an open goal to score.

But Real were not able to capitalise on that glimmer of hope and Gabriel Martinelli capped off a glorious night by making it 2-1 in stoppage time with a breakaway goal, again set up by Merino.

It is just the third time Arsenal have reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League and they will face Paris St-Germain in the last four.

Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 at Emirates Stadium in the league phase but Luis Enrique’s French champions are much improved since then.

The home crowd in Madrid, who had built an excellent atmosphere and were hoping to spark a comeback that would be remembered for years to come, thought their side had a way back into the tie shortly after Saka’s spot-kick miss when they were awarded a penalty of their own.

But a lengthy check with the video assistant referee overturned the referee’s decision after Kylian Mbappe had thrown himself to the floor following minimal contact from Declan Rice.

Arsenal produce another memorable night in Europe

It was hard to imagine that Arsenal were going to be able to produce a performance that would be better than the first leg – but this game comes close.

The Gunners had a clear remit to not get dragged into the emotion created by the Bernabeu crowd.

Saka had the perfect chance to silence the home support after Raul Asencio pulled down Merino but made an uncharacteristic poor choice from the spot which allowed Courtois to save his chip with ease.

But Mikel Arteta’s side were never in serious danger of losing the match by such a margin that would see them knocked out.

The Gunners have not lost by a four-goal margin since a 4-0 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield in November 2021.

And it is 100 games since they conceded more than twice, which was during a 4-3 win at Luton in December 2023.

Arteta deserves credit too for the way he has overcome a number of injuries to key players and led his side to score five past Real without a recognised striker.

Real unable to pull off ‘La Remontada’

The word used the most by Real players and supporters this week was ‘la remontada’ which means ‘the comeback’.

On three out of the past four occasions when the Spanish side have trailed after the first leg in the Champions League, they have fought back to reach the next round – against Wolfsburg in 2015-16 and in 2021-22 against PSG and Manchester City.

So Real’s players were justified in speaking with confidence pre-game but they were second best to Arsenal for the majority of both legs of this tie.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti will now have to turn his focus back to La Liga with Real four points behind Barcelona as they bid to defend their title.

[BBC]