Arsenal are through to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions after a hugely impressive 5-1 aggregate victory over reigning European champions Real Madrid, sealed by a 2-1 victory in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.
REAL MADRID 1-2 (1-5 AGG.) ARSENAL - Highlights & recap
The Gunners rode the biggest and best performance of Mikel Arteta’s tenure (in the first leg) to the club’s first Champions League semifinal appearance since 2009 as they took the next step forward in Arteta’s project. Bukayo Saka rebounded from a first-half penalty miss to score the goal that (briefly) made it 4-0 before Vinicius Junior stole one back, but that’s as close as Carlo Ancelotti’s side would get on the night or in the tie. Second-best from start to finish. Gabriel Martinelli added the exclamation point in stoppage time, racing away from everyone, beating Thibaut Courtois and basking in the adoration of the traveling supporters seated high atop the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mikel Arteta reaction — What did Gunners boss say after beating Real Madrid to reach Champions League semifinals?
“My wife, my children, my family. I know how they have been, having listened to what could happen. They are very proud. The players, to see them, to feel they are able and they do it. There is no better reward for a coach. The fans are very proud of the team.”
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“It is the first time I have sat on that bench and this stadium has the capacity for anything to happen.”
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“A big credit to them and today I realized after three minutes anything is possible. To create a chaos, a belief an uncertainty how we control it.”
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka, on his time out injured and coming back…
“It was tough at times but at the same time, I kind of accepted it. I knew which games I would be back for, so when you accept that you’re more calm. This is one of the games I was really preparing myself for. It was big motivation for me in my rehab, and I’m happy I’ve come back for this game and made my mark. On to the semifinals now.”
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“I feel like we have respect now. You can see that in the way that they prepared for this game, so we know that we’re respected in Europe. We feel like tonight is another big step and we need to keep taking big steps so that we can try and win something — that’s the mentality that we have.”
UCL semifinalist... Bukayo Saka 👏 pic.twitter.com/bh2oNJp4zY
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 16, 2025
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, on reaching the Champions League semifinal…
“It is such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We had an objective in this competition — we want to win this competition.
“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. 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. Semifinal, it is massive for us and we want to take tonight in.”
Arsenal left back Myles Lewis-Skelly, on conquering the Bernabeu…
“It was incredible. When you see it 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.
