They had talked about a comeback all week in Madrid, Jude Bellingham had said.
Since their 3-0 humbling at the Emirates, he had heard it over and over again. Remontada, remontada, remontada. ‘Honestly, I’ve heard it about a million times,’ Bellingham had said on Tuesday.
But La Remontada never came. Real Madrid never even got close to it. They can talk all they want.
They could have said it ten million times and it wouldn’t have made a difference because words are no substitutes for deeds and Arsenal let their quality do all their talking for them by securing a stunning victory at the home of the kings of Europe.
The greatest comeback in the cauldron of the Bernabeu on Wednesday night came via the heart and the mind and the sublime left foot of Bukayo Saka who showed courage as well as brilliance to inspire Arsenal to a 2-1 victory that eased them into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Saka missed an early penalty for the Gunners and he missed it spectacularly, fluffing his attempt at a Panenka and seeing it saved by Thibault Courtois. But Saka did not hide. He did not retreat. He was not consumed by regret.
Arsenal reached the Champions League semi-finals after beating Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate
The Gunners held a 3-0 lead from last week’s first leg and Real couldn’t mount a comeback
Bukayo Saka recovered from missing a penalty to put Arsenal ahead and basically settle the tie
He showed us the measure of the man he is by scoring a superb goal in the second half that gave his team the cushion they needed to progress.
Arsenal’s performance was gilded by a superb solo goal from Gabriel Martinelli late in stoppage time.
In the end, their margin was comfortable. Very comfortable. When the final whistle blew, Arsenal had eased to an aggregate 5-1 victory that humbled the 15 times winners of this competition and exploded the idea that they were somehow destined to win it again this season.
The truth is Madrid were hugely disappointing. They were incoherent, disjointed and utterly lacking in subtlety and guile. Arsenal outplayed them last week and they outplayed them again here.
By the end, the Arsenal fans high in the Gods in a corner of this magnificent stadium, were taunting their rival supporters. ‘You’ve only come to see the Arsenal,’ they sang over and over again. ‘You’ve only come to see the Arsenal.’
The Bernabeu had wound itself into a frenzy by the time the game kicked off. Even the choreography was perfect.
The ranks of fans behind one goal, a thousand or more dressed all in white, held up a tifo of a bearded deity in Madrid colours, knocking over pawns on a chessboard.
Two of the pawns were dressed in the colours of Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, two of Madrid’s Champions League victims this season. There was one dressed in Arsenal red, too. The message was clear.
Saka had attempted a panenka from the spot, but Thibaut Courtois saved his poor effort
It threatened to be a major setback for the Gunners, but Mikel Arteta’s side cruised through
Saka’s goal came after a classy finish as he sent Arsenal into the final four of the competition
Every tackle by a Madrid player was met with a great roar of triumph, every Arsenal tackle by a baying for blood and revenge.
When Kylian Mbappe chested a cross into the net in the second minute, the roof, which had been closed specially for the occasion, nearly came off. An offside flag ended the celebrations.
But Arsenal were already causing the home side problems. Saka, in particular, picked up where he had left off at the Emirates and began to torture David Alaba down the Arsenal right.
Alaba channelled Martin Keown and scythed through him with a ‘reducer’. The Austrian was booked.
And then, 11 minutes in, there was another pause in the febrile pleadings of the crowd. The French referee halted play after a challenge on Mikel Merino by Raul Asencio that had gone unnoticed, except by VAR. Francois Letexier checked it on the screen and awarded a penalty.
Saka stepped up to take it. In front of those hordes in all white. Saka is a fine penalty taker but this was not one of his best efforts. He waited for Thibault Courtois to commit himself and then tried to dink it over him with a Panenka.
But it was poorly executed, clipped too close to the goalkeeper, and Courtois stuck up a giant left hand to paw it away.
More frenetic energy surged around the stadium. Courtois celebrated wildly. Saka put his head in his hands. His teammates ran up to him and consoled him. Madrid knew they had been reprieved and threw themselves back into the pursuit.
Vinicius Jnr pulled a goal back, but Real flattered to deceive and never threatened a comeback
Gabriel Martinelli then scored in added time to cap a very memorable evening for Arsenal
Real did have a penalty overturned in the first half following a lengthy five-minute VAR delay
Declan Rice was adjudged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe and was booked by Francois Letexier
They pressed and pressed. In the 22nd minute, Asencio flicked on a free kick and Mbappe flung himself to the ground, claiming he had been pulled back by Rice. The referee pointed to the spot again.
It was the sixth time in his last seven Champions League games he had awarded a spot kick. Rice was livid. He was adamant nothing had happened. Rudiger body-checked him away from the referee in the midst of his protestations.
The VAR check went on and on and on. After four or five minutes, the referee ran to the big screen. There was a suggestion Mbappe may have strayed marginally offside.
There was also a suggestion his dive was unreasonably theatrical. The referee signalled that he was reversing his decision. Brave man.
There were seven minutes of added time at the end of the half but Arsenal saw it out. They were defending brilliantly. Nor was there much craft about the Madrid attacks.
Vinicius Jr ran time and time again at Jurrien Timber and Timber led him down a blind alley every single time.
Arsenal began the second half with great assuredness. Madrid could not get near them.
Gabriel Martinelli led Lucas Vazquez a dance with a series of feints that enraged the Madrid players and Arsenal kept possession for so long that their fans started to accompany every touch with chants of ‘ole’.
Rice had been left fuming by the soft call, but Letexier subsequently took away his booking too
It was a difficult night for Carlo Ancelotti as his side, who are reigning champions, crashed out
Arsenal will now take on PSG in the final four with the belief that they can win this competition
Midway through the half, they got the goal their superiority deserved. Saka started and finished the move, collecting a flick-on from Merino, before laying the ball off, drifting across the face of the box and then ghosting on to a clever pass from Merino.
As Courtois rushed out to meet him, Saka lifted it over him with the deftest of touches. It was a goal in the spirit of a Panenka, the Panenka that Saka had meant the first time.
Arsenal’s lead did not last, though. Two minutes later, William Saliba, who had been flawless until then, was caught dawdling on the ball inside his own area by Vinicius Jr, who had the simplest of tasks to scoop the ball into the net. It was encouragement Madrid had not earned.
They did not have the quality to build on it, though. Arsenal reasserted their dominance effortlessly enough and never looked threatened before Martinelli put them out of their misery late on. Arsenal will believe now that they can win this competition for the first time in their history.
