MARTIN KEOWN: It was a tactical masterclass from Mikel Arteta - here are the five ways he got the better of Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid to guide Arsenal to a famous Champions League win
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Arsenal’s Champions League win over Real Madrid was a statement victory for Mikel Arteta. Not only did the Gunners take a 3-0 lead to the Bernabeu and protect it on Wednesday night, they went and beat Real again. Here is how Arteta’s men managed it…
WINGERS KEY TO SUCCESS
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have been there every step of the way during Arteta’s tenure, so it was fitting they both scored to send Arsenal into the Champions League semi-finals.
They deserve just as much credit for the incredible work they did off the ball for Arteta on Wednesday. They constantly tracked back to protect Arsenal’s full backs against rapid wingers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior.
Saka has been out for more than 100 days after surgery on his hamstring, but in the space of just two weeks has picked up the reins and is showing again that he is one of the best players in Europe. He had David Alaba on toast. That’s testament to both him and the medical team.
He is such a grounded young man. He doesn’t get overly upset if things don’t go his way, as we saw after his penalty miss, and doesn’t get carried away when he does something brilliant.
Martinelli’s willingness to track back on the opposite flank also allowed Myles Lewis-Skelly to do his thing. Who is brave enough to ghost past Champions League winners? He is — and the 18-year-old goes to another level every time you see him play.
RICE WINS THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
You are starting to see Declan Rice’s influence all the way through this Arsenal team. He was awesome over both legs. He covered so much ground, it’s like he’s got two hearts beating in his chest.
He put out fires all over the pitch. Every facet of his game is at the very top, from how he covers defensively to how he charges gracefully up the pitch, to his leadership skills. He’s really starting to purr.
Rice and Arsenal gave Real a midfield lesson. Without the now retired Toni Kroos to play those quarterback passes into the front players, their centre backs often had nowhere to go. Antonio Rudiger is not the strongest in possession, but he had no options.
Jude Bellingham is a proud young man who has already achieved great things, but he couldn’t find the solutions in midfield.
He played high up, but didn’t recognise he needed to come deeper to provide an extra man at the base of the midfield to mount their attacks.
When Arsenal had the ball, they were allowed too much time and space to play out effortlessly through midfield, where Rice and Martin Odegaard buzzed around the Bernabeu.
Arsenal were prepared to press high when Real keeper Thibaut Courtois had the ball, but when the hosts had good possession they were also happy to sit back on the edge of their box and pull down their defensive shield. There was great balance to their play.
Real looked passive. Unless you can play with and without the ball, it doesn’t matter how good your players are or how big your reputation is, you don’t win without balance.
It was vital Real Madrid’s penalty was overturned, because it would have affected the momentum of the game and ruled Rice out of the first leg of the semi-final, which would be unthinkable.
He has formed a key partnership in midfield alongside Thomas Partey and you could see how angry Rice was with his team-mate when he got booked late on, meaning he will miss the first leg of the semi-final with Paris Saint-Germain.
SALIBA STIFLES MBAPPE
Going into this tie there was huge focus on the absence of Gabriel, who has formed such an imperious partnership with William Saliba at the heart of the Arsenal defence.
All eyes were on the newly formed duo with Jakub Kiwior. Over the two legs, though, apart from Saliba’s mistake for the Real Madrid equaliser, the way they marshalled Kylian Mbappe and Co was an awesome display of authority, pace and control.
Saliba showed the leadership skills needed to take charge of the backline as he gathers more and more experience of playing in the Champions League.
WHO NEEDS STRIKERS?
Let’s not forget, for all the talk about strikers this season, Arsenal just beat Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate with a false No 9 in Mikel Merino.
Arsenal’s makeshift striker scored in the first leg at the Emirates, after finding the net and setting up another in the win against PSV in the last 16, and then provided assists for both goals at the Bernabeu.
Merino is there to link play and he does it well. You have to applaud his intelligence. For the opening goal on Wednesday, he comes to feet, spins and then rolls the ball through to Saka. He’s like the backboard of a basketball net and then when he gets a chance himself, he is clinical.
He has become a massively important signing for Arteta, scoring eight goals this season, even after breaking his shoulder in his first training session.
Remarkably, without a recognised striker and with Merino leading the line, Arsenal have scored 14 goals to beat PSV and Real Madrid to keep their Champions League dream alive.
KEY LESSONS LEARNED
This is only Arsenal’s second season in the Champions League under Arteta. But they have proved they are learning fast and took valuable lessons from their defeat by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last season.
They gained vital experience of how to tackle a first leg at home after that missed opportunity last year, when they gave away two cheap goals and never really went after Bayern, unsure whether to stick or twist. That will have loomed large in their mind.
This year it was clear — in the first leg, go after a vulnerable Real Madrid team. They did that by showing no fear, and then had the necessary fight and spirit to manage the occasion in the second leg. The five tiers of the Bernabeu really amplifies the noise and it’s tricky to hear yourself think, let alone play.
Real Madrid will have seen the matches from the night before, when home sides Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund went close to pulling off incredible turnarounds, and their fans were expecting another famous night
Arsenal needed to make sure they avoided going down as the victims of one of the greatest comebacks of all time. That might have rocked teams that weren’t mentally strong, but the Gunners showed they have got their fight back.
Their desire and will to win silenced the crowd and the second goal emptied the stadium. Real fans left admitting their team were outplayed, not once, but twice.
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