Arsenal dump Real Madrid out of Champions League

Real Madrid have crashed out of the Champions League in the second leg of the quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu, failing to make the semi-finals on Wednesday night against English giants Arsenal.

Madrid lost 3-0 to a resilient and determined Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to two sublime free kicks from Declan Rice and a third from Mikel Merino in the 58th, 70th, and 75th minutes, respectively.

The Gunners’ spirited 3-0 win at North London in the first leg proved to be enough to secure a spot in the semi-final stage of the 2024/25 Champions League campaign.

However, Mikel Arteta’s men had other ideas, beating the current champions 2-1 at the Bernabeu, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side disappointingly bowing out 5-1 on aggregate.

As it has become more of a tradition than a right, Madrid were unable to conjure a comeback in the Champions League against Arsenal, and went out of the competition with their heads down.

The demands were high once again, as it has always been when it comes to Madrid, whenever they wear the famous white shirt in the elite competition.

The closed Bernabeu roof needed a feel of those magical moments that have surrendered to the “magicians in white” – however, this time, the fans were only left gnashing their teeth, jaws dropped – but held together agonisingly with frustrating hands – disappointment written all over the faces of the home.

On a night waiting for Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr to rewrite the script, the duo fell flat, while the Gunners dominated everywhere else; a well-deserved 5-1 aggregate win over two legs.

Real Madrid out of the UCL — Kylian Mbappe failed to help Real Madrid win against Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabeu in the UCL (Image credit: Getty Images)

Thibaut Courtois was called into action early in the 13th minute, saving Bukayo Saka’s poorly hit penalty with a strong palm after VAR adjudged Raul Asencio to have dragged his man down in the box.

Madrid were awarded a penalty of their own soon after as Rice was spotted to have pulled down Kylian Mbappe, only for the decision to be reversed after a long VAR check.

Arsenal comfortably cruised to end the first half fully in control, with the hosts failing to register a single shot on target, but then gained control of the game on 65 minutes when Saka raced onto Martin Odegaard’s delightful through ball and lifted the ball over the advancing Courtois.

Madrid responded with Vinicius latching onto a William Saliba mistake to level the score on the night, giving them some hope with 20 minutes still on the clock.

Before the game, 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.

But not this time – the entire atmosphere ceased generating the energy needed for a famous comeback, even though the Madridistas kept charging the gallant men up with collaborative songs and chants.

Declan Rice show grit in both legs of the Champions League encounter against Real Madrid(Image credit: Getty Images)

There was to be no famous comeback from the hosts, however, with Arsenal keeping them at bay comfortably before Gabriel Martinelli raced away in the final seconds to put the seal on a special night for the Gunners.

Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz and Hendrick offered little in attacking sense when introduced later in the game – Arsenal’s bravry seem to have sucked every ounce of inspiration and might for a comeback – “the Bernabeu has fallen”.

Arsenal have written their name in the higher echelons of the game with Madrid in context – Arsenal are the first team ever to win each of their first two games against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in all competitions.

They have also eliminated the Champions League holders from the competition for just the second time, previously doing so against Milan in 2007-08.

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.