Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal: Only one team deserved to win

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal are into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 16 years, having completed a famous double over Real Madrid with a 2-1 win at the Bernebeu last night.

The team was as expected – the same one that started the first leg – and like the first game the scene was set early on. Real Madrid ‘scored’ but Kylian Mbappe was miles offside, while at the other end Bukayo Saka flashed a right-footed shot just wide, and then forced Thibaut Courtois into a save with his left. Jude Bellingham fouled Myles Lewis-Skelly and, much like he did for the rest of the game, seemed to put more energy into moaning at the referee than anything else.

Ten minutes in and we had a penalty after a VAR checked spotted Raul Asencio’s clear foul on Mikel Merino. The ref went to have a look, and pointed to the spot. What a chance for us to increase our aggregate lead so early in the game, but Saka’s decision to try a Panenka was an odd one given the stakes, and the execution of it was all wrong, allowing Courtois to make a save. It felt like a gut-punch, with all the talk of the ‘remontada‘, would this be one of those moments that came back to bite us in the arse?

It looked like it might when Mbappe went down in the box, and this time the penalty was awarded to the home side – with a yellow card too that would have ruled Declan Rice out of the first leg of the semi-final had we got there. It was never a foul for me, but as we’ve experienced recently with Lewis-Skelly at Everton, that doesn’t always seem to matter. However, after a lengthy VAR check (5 minutes), the ref was asked to go have a look, and as is usually the case when that happened he changed his mind. No penalty, no card.

After that, we were treated to a masterclass of … crossing. That’s all Real Madrid did in this game. Shift it wide, cross it in. Watch it get cleared. Rinse and repeat. William Saliba alone made 10 clearances in the first half. By full-time they had made 43 crosses, and played 0 through-balls. For a side with the technical quality they possess, that tells you a lot about how they performed, but also plenty about the high quality of Arsenal’s defensive organisation and discipline.

A front three with a combined total of 65 goals and 24 assists this season ended up playing like they were at a Championship side desperate for a Hail Mary goal in the last minute of a playoff game to sneak into 6th place. The more the game went on, the more the energy got sucked out of the crowd, the stop-start nature of things really suited us, and you could sense the frustration. They kept bleating to the referee about small things, a surefire sign they weren’t fully focused on the task at hand.

0-0 at half-time was a scenario I would happily have taken before the game, but having missed that penalty, there was a slight sense of disappointment. Rudiger and Bellingham took turns throwing Jurrien Timber to the ground, but he just got up in case he damaged Vinicius Jr who was in his pocket all night (such consideration). Rudiger then stamped on Lewis-Skelly and somehow avoided a card. I know some people laugh at what he does on the pitch but his penchant for violence is better suited to a goddam henchman than a professional footballer. It’s really not that funny at all.

Madrid made subs (oh no, please not Dani Ceballos, I’m so scared!), but then we scored, and what a lovely goal it was too. It began with Saka down the right, Odegaard linked play with Declan Rice and then Mikel Merino, before the Spanish international spotted the opportunity, played the perfect pass for Saka who had run off Rudiger, and the dinked finish over Courtois was top class. 0-1, and if there was any team who deserved to be ahead it was us.

That made it 4-0 on aggregate, and it settled my heart-rate … for a couple of minutes. An uncharacteristic mistake from Saliba on the edge of our box presented Vinicius Jr with an easy chance, which he took to make it 1-1. I wasn’t overly worried, given the scoreline and how well we’d dealt with them all night, but I will admit feeling a little unsettled by it. Ultimately though, that was all they could muster. Their only goal over the course of the two games came from the kind of mistake you’ll probably never see from Saliba again, and that tells you so much.

Madrid’s fans, up there with Barcelona’s as the most entitled in the world, booed Mbappe after he was forced off with injury in a challenge with Rice. They made another couple of changes, made some more crosses, and grew increasingly frustrated. Rudiger eventually went into the book for deliberately heading the back of Merino’s head (a possible red on its own, imo), Odegaard curled a shot wide, and then in injury time the winner arrived. Another cross was cleared, Merino held the ball well in midfield, Martinelli’s run was excellent and the pass set him free. He raced through, got goal side of the defender and then clipped the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

How funny it was to hear Lucas Vasquez criticise Arsenal who ‘just came to defend’ when we scored 5 times in two legs, and their only goal was a fluke after a mistake by one of our players. The reality is that we worked harder, played smarter, and put in the kind of effort that wins you games at this level. It’s not all about running, obviously, but in the first game we ran a collective 114km to their 101km, and last night it was 118km to their 108km.

Real Madrid’s self-entitlement because of their history – and admittedly a glut of on-paper quality in attacking areas – is no more evident anywhere than in that stat. They expect to win, but at no point did they ever do enough to to merit a win in either game. Look at Martinelli’s willingness to make that kind of sprint in the 93rd minute, then compare and contrast with their players crying at the referee all night because their fouls are being actually being punished.

Arsenal had a game-plan, worked so hard to execute it at home and away, and I don’t think there can be any argument that over the course of the 180 minutes we deserved to go through. That’s not always the case in football, which is what makes the game so captivating/frustrating, but the collective effort was such over the course of these two games it would have been a travesty if we hadn’t qualified.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta spoke of his pride in his players (and I think he should allow a little for the work he and his coaching staff did too), and when asked what the result means in a wider context, said:

It’s reassuring. I’m here to experience these kind of games and to go through them. I know that some days you’re going to win, some days you’re going to lose. So, be very critical with yourself tonight. There are things that we can still do much better and I have to help the team to do better. The biggest pride is when I look at them and I talk to them, how convinced they feel and that’s been part of our job and of the coaches, and that’s why it’s a joy to work with them.

When this draw was made, with all the problems we had with injuries and indifferent form at times in the Premier League, I could not have envisaged such a comprehensive victory over two legs. The players and the manager/staff deserve massive credit, and I think we’ve seen a wonderful collective effort. On top of that though, we’ve had some massive individual displays too.

Rice was brilliant in the first leg for obvious reasons, and immense again last night without the eye-catching free kicks. He helped Arsenal dominate the midfield and in this fixture demonstrated the defensive quality in his game; mistake aside Saliba was superb and I have to give a mention to Jakub Kiwior was who perceived as a weakness in Gabriel’s absence but who stepped up superbly well.

What can you say about Lewis-Skelly doing what he did at that stadium at 18? A big game, a big goal from Saka. Martinelli never gave them a moment’s peace. Merino ended last night with two assists, plus a goal from the first leg. You could go on, and give everyone their flowers, but as I said, this was about the collective, and the way Arteta has instilled in this less-than-100% Arsenal the kind of belief and confidence that allows them to dismantle a side like Real Madrid in both games.

I think I said this last week too, but the yardstick for how this team has developed and matured has to include our European performances this season. Yes, we know the Premier League has been below par, but look at some of those Champions League results and you can see that progress is still being made. The knives will be out in Madrid for what they didn’t do, but more than their failure, this should be celebration of what Arsenal did to thoroughly deserve to win both games.

Be happy, be proud, we still have work to do obviously, but it’s important to live and cherish these moments because they don’t come along that often. I don’t think there was ever a scenario where we topped last week, but we absolutely put the icing on that delicious cake at the Bernebeu last night. And unlike last week, I slept easily after I’d finished work last night. I just went to bed, and like they were sheep, I counted Real Madrid crosses …. ZZZzzzzz.

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Right, I’ll leave it there for now. We will have an Arsecast for you a bit later today, we’re recording in the early afternoon so apologies it’s not as early as some of you would like to relive it all again, but you have the Internet at your disposal and fun highlights shouldn’t be hard to find to help pass the time.

Until later!

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