With plenty of talk around a ‘Remontada‘ (the Spanish word for ‘comeback’), a stout and stubborn defensive performance from Arsenal saw them hold off Real Madrid until just after the hour mark in the return leg in the Bernabeu.
Arsenal had been given a penalty early on, but Bukayo Saka’s attempted Panenka was poorly aimed and easily parried away by Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid thought they had a penalty soon after but VAR overturned the on-field call after Declan Rice had only made slight contact with Kylian Mbappe inside the box.
Then, things accelerated. Saka ran onto Mikel Merino’s clever through ball and chipped it over Courtois for 1-0. Two minutes later, a poor error from William Saliba saw Vinicius Junior rob him and rocket it into the empty net.
1-1 on the night, 4-1 to Arsenal on aggregate.
Madrid pushed and pushed, but in the end they were the ones stung late on, as Gabriel Martinelli sprinted from inside his own half, latched onto a through ball, and finished coolly to seal a famous Arsenal win.
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