Champions League: Arsenal eliminates Real Madrid and will meet PSG in the semi-final

Undefeated in the double confrontation, the Gunners qualified for their first C1 semi-final since 2009, Wednesday, after their victory in Madrid (2-1). Kylian Mbappé came off injured in the 75th minute.

There was no comeback. Largely beaten in the first leg on the pitch at the Emirates Stadium (3-0), Real Madrid failed to turn things around during the return leg at home, Wednesday April 16, at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium. In a match that was initially choppy, then a little more open, the title holders lost to an Arsenal team that was well established and superior in the game (2-1). And lost Kylian Mbappé, left with an ankle injury in the 75th minute after a very discreet performance.

In a very favorable waiver at kick-off, Arsenal were not impressed. In front of the Madrid crowd, Mikel Arteta’s men first had the luxury of opening the score and increasing their lead to four goals, on a nice ball from Bukayo Saka (65th).

Enough to be forgiven for his missed panenka on a penalty in the first period (13th), obtained after viewing the video for a foul by Raul Asensio on Mikel Merino. In the final minutes, when the chips were down, the Londoners sealed their qualification by scoring the winning goal thanks to a cross strike from Gabriel Martinelli (90+3).

While the Madrid camp had been preparing all week for a comeback, Carlo Ancelotti’s players never managed to breathe into the match the wind of madness necessary to come up three goals. With the exception of Vinicius Jr’s equalizer to immediately respond to England’s opener (67th), following a defensive error from William Saliba, they never managed to appear truly dangerous, waiting 55 minutes to score their first strike.

Before that, they had also believed to benefit from a penalty on a clash between Declan Rice and Kylian Mbappé (23rd), finally canceled under the whistles of the Bernabeu stands after a long, confusing intervention by the VAR. An action among others which did not go in the direction of the title holders, who will not see the semi-finals for only the third time in the last 15 editions.

Dominators over both matches, the Gunners validate their qualification for the semi-finals, a first since 2009. They will meet PSG there, qualified in pain against Aston Villa on Tuesday. The two teams had already faced each other in the league phase, a match which had gone in favor of the English (2-0). In the other match of the evening, Inter got the better of Bayern Munich (2-2, 2-1 in the first leg) and will face FC Barcelona in the second semi-final.