Arsenal have defeated defending champions Real Madrid 2-1 to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009 in a match where VAR played a key role in two penalty decisions.
Arsenal advanced 5-1 on aggregate after a 3-0 first-leg win at home in London last week, keeping alive their chances of winning Europe’s top club competition for the first time. They face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
Inter Milan advanced past Bayern Munich in the other quarter-final to set up a semi-final against Barcelona.
There was no historic comeback for Madrid on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), no late goals, no high drama, no magic at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
The defending champions and record 15-time European winners fell short of the last four for the first time since 2020. They were seeking their third Champions League title in four seasons.
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“There was a lot of talk coming here about (Real Madrid) coming back, because they’ve done it so many times before, but we had so much belief and confidence from that first game to come here and win the game,” said Arsenal’s Declan Rice, who scored twice in the first leg through free kicks.
“We knew we were going to suffer, but we knew we were going to win.”
Madrid’s hopes of staging another comeback on Wednesday – like so many times before in recent years in the Champions League – took a big hit when a five-minute VAR check overturned a penalty for a hold on Kylian Mbappe in the first half with the game tied 0-0.
Arsenal earlier had been awarded a penalty after a video review, but Bukayo Saka missed his spot kick, attemping an audacious panenka that was saved by Thibaut Courtois.
The Gunners star was at the centre of more drama at half time when Madrid’s Dani Carvajal, who missed the match due to injury, confronted him in the tunnel.
The interaction initially appeared friendly, but after Carvajal put his hand on Saka’s neck from behind, staff from both sides moved in to separate the pair.
Saka would have the last laugh, being able to put Arsenal ahead from inside the area in the 65th minute, and Madrid couldn’t manage more than an equaliser by Vinicius Junior a couple of minutes later after a defensive blunder by William Saliba.
Gabriel Martinelli gave Arsenal the victory by scoring on a breakaway three minutes into stoppage time.
“This is one of the best nights in my football career, for sure,” Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said.
“It’s a really special one against a team that has been an inspiration for a lot of us in this competition. To win this tie in the manner that we have, we can be very proud.”
In Milan, former Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard scored against his old club to help the home side to a 2-2 draw against the German team, sending the Nerazzurri through to the semis 4-3 on aggregate.
It was Pavard’s first goal for Inter, after the France international joined from Bayern in 2023.
Harry Kane had levelled the quarter-final early in the second half, but Inter swiftly turned the game around with goals from Lautaro Martinez and Pavard on a blustery night in Milan.
Eric Dier headed in the equaliser in the 76th minute to set up a nervy finale.
Things got heated deep into injury time when Bayern’s Josip Stanisic took umbrage to an Inter ballkid’s attempt to time-waste by throwing the ball away from him to delay a throw-in, shoving the boy off his stool to provoke a furious reaction from the home team.
On Stan Sport, former greats Mark Bosnich and Craig Foster were left in stitches over the run-in.
“That’s his job!” Foster laughed.
Inter face Barcelona in the semi-finals. They beat the same opponents in the final four in 2010 on their way to winning the Champions League and securing the treble under Jose Mourinho
Simone Inzaghi’s men are in contention to repeat that feat this season.
Inter had stunned Bayern last week, winning 2-1 to inflict the German team’s first home defeat in the competition in almost four years.
