NO sweat, no tears and not a hint of fear.
Here were Arsenal – streetwise, steely, sometimes cynical Arsenal – dethroning the 15-time kings of Europe, busting a few myths and breezing their way into a first Champions League semi-final in 16 years.
Here was a very different performance to last week’s first-leg pummelling of Real Madrid but it was every bit as impressive.
Declan Rice, whose twin free-kicks ignited this quarter-final at the Emirates, was dominant in midfield, Bukayo Saka netted an impudent goal after botching an early penalty.
And perhaps just as impressively, there was 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly breaking up play with some wonderful play-acting to the shrill screens of 80,000 Madristas – giving Real a taste of their own age-old medicine.
It is one of the greatest lies in football that Mikel Arteta’s team are a bunch of soft lads and bottle jobs.
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They have been pipped for the title by Manchester City in the previous two seasons, and this term they have collected too many red cards and injuries to bother Liverpool.
But the idea that they lack what the Spanish refer to as ‘cojones’ has never been true and should be shot down completely after this clear-headed hit job inside European football’s most perilous venue.
Over two legs, this was the most significant result of Arteta’s five-year reign.
Against a side which boasted four of the most famous attacking players on the planet, Arsenal won with a defensive midfielder, Mikel Merino, as their centre-forward.
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And it wasn’t even close.
If anything, Arsenal were guilty of over-confidence here, when Saka failed with a ‘Panenka’ spot-kick which could have killed the tie stone-dead after 12 minutes of this return match.
Vinicius Junior swiftly equalised Saka’s goal midway through the second half but at no point were Arsenal in danger of throwing away their aggregate lead.
And Gabriel Martinelli applied the coup de grace with a cool finish from an Arsenal break in injury-time.
They will now face a Paris St Germain side they have already beaten 2-0 this season. and who took a serious pounding at Villa Park on Tuesday night, believing they can reach only the second European Cup Final in their history.
The pre-match build-up in Madrid had all been about ‘La Remontada’ – the ‘comeback’ – and the slightly overblown idea that Real are experts in escapology.
They haven’t actually staged too many epic comebacks in the past because they haven’t often needed to. They just tend to be very good – especially in this competition.
Before kick off Real had sent out social media posts in 20 different languages, insisting that ‘90 minutes in the Bernabeu is a long time’.
It’s all part of the mythology they like the build around their team, to scare the bejesus out of opponents.
Arteta knew as much and took a more realistic approach. If you forgot the history, here were two pretty well-matched teams and Arsenal had a three-goal head start.
From the off, Arsenal didn’t look in any way intimidated – Rice barged over Bellingham in the centre circle, while Saka was tormenting David Alaba – who was booked early on for mowing him down.
Saka then whistled one effort across goal and had another pawed away by Courtois before his first big moment came – and went.
From a Rice corner, Raul Asencio hauled down Merino and VAR intervened before ref Franois Letexier pointed to the spot.
Everything pointed to Saka scoring – he’d netted eight in a row since he last missed, against West Ham two years ago to the day and he’s started this match like a train.
But the Panenka was an uncharacteristic act of arrogance from Saka and Courtois stuck up a hand to push away his airy effort.
Rice was struck by a missile as he took a corner and then it looked worse for the first-leg hero when, after an innocuous tangle with Mbappe as he defended a cross, Letexier pointed to the spot.
There was a four-minute delay before the referee agreed with his VAR that Mbappe had pulled a fast one – although the fact Rice had made significant contact with the Frenchman meant it hadn’t looked ‘clear and obvious’ either way.
Rice’s booking, which would have seen him banned for the first leg of the semi-final, was also rescinded.
The night’s most predictable moment arrived in the 36th minute when keeper David Raya was booked for time-wasting.
But Arsenal didn’t too much spoiling and s***housing Despite its Hollywood attacking cast, this is not a vintage Real side. It is too imbalanced, it lacks control in midfield as well as true nastiness at the back.
We reached half-time with Raya still utterly untroubled – and injured Real defender Dani Carvajal grabbed Saka by the back of the neck after an exchange of words with the Arsenal man pushing him away.
It was a clear sign that the hosts were rattled.
After the break, Rice was relishing his battle with England team-mate Bellingham, including one excellent saving tackle in the box.
Jakub Kiwior, supposedly Arsenal’s weak link, was doing a passable impersonation of Franco Baresi and the Gooners up in the nosebleed seats were getting out the ‘ole, oles’.
Soon, Arsenal were ahead on the night, a patient passing move ending with Merino’s through-ball releasing Saka, who lifted it over Courtois with sub-zero levels of cool.
Real hit back almost instantly, William Saliba mugged Vinicius as he collected a pass from Raya and leathering into the net with ease.
Still, we were halfway through the second half and Real were three goals down.
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And then Martinelli advanced, slotted past Courtois from an angle, as the Real left in their thousands.
“Are you Tottenham in disguise?” asked the travelling fans. They weren’t far wrong.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
