Arsenal are through to the Champions League semi-final for the first time since 2009 with a 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid.
Arsenal fans were stunned by Bukayo Saka as the Hale End star missed an early opportunity to calm any nerves by missing a ‘Panenka’ penalty in the first half.
However, in true Saka style, the England winger redeemed himself with a superb opener following an excellent through ball from Mikel Merino.
A mistake from William Saliba allowed Vinicius Jr to equalise for the hosts but Gabriel Martinelli capped a remarkable night for Mikel Arteta’s side as he grabbed the winner in stoppage time.
It could have been different for the Gunners had a first half VAR review gone differently for a Real Madrid penalty given away by Declan Rice and the midfielder revealed his thoughts on the incident.
What Declan Rice told Kylian Mbappe after penalty incident
Arsenal fans raged at ‘shambolic’ refereeing in the first half as Francois Letexier gave Real Madrid a penalty for a challenge on Kylian Mbappe by Rice.
After a lengthy VAR check, the decision was over turned for insufficient contact on the French striker and Rice revealed after the game what he said to Mbappe when speaking to TNT Sports post match coverage.
Rice stated: “I knew it wasn’t a penalty. Look don’t get me wrong, I had my arm on him but you have to do that in the box, you have to try and stop him I wasn’t going to let him go but I knew it wasn’t a pen.
“I’m an honest guy, I said to him [Mbappe] straight away and I said to Vazquez that it’s not a pen and I would admit if I pulled him down, I would say. But he just fell to the floor and it wasn’t a pen and I was fully convinced it would get overturned.”
The Gunners midfielder was given a yellow card initially for the challenge which would have meant him missing the semi-final first leg clash with PSG however, that was also over turned.
Thomas Partey to miss Arsenal first leg against PSG
One blemish on the evening for Arsenal will be that Rice’s midfield team mate Thomas Partey was shown a yellow card and will now miss the semi-final first leg against PSG.
It was a silly yellow card for the experienced midfielder to get as the game dwindled down in the dying minutes, Partey got himself involved in an altercation with Jude Bellingham.
It will now leave a huge hole in midfield for Arteta’s side and the Gunners boss will have a decision to make on how he fills it.
With Rice excelling in his current advanced role, it may be that Merino drops back in alongside him and Leandro Trossard is given the centre forward position.
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