Arsenal reach Champions League semi-final for first time since 2009 after beating holders Real Madrid
17 April 2025, 00:06
Arsenal booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals after beating current title holders Real Madrid in a dramatic game.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The North London side will face Paris St Germain in the next round of the competition, after the Parisians beat Aston Villa last night.
Bukayo Saka made up for an earlier penalty miss by producing a superb finish as the Gunners dispatched a disappointing Real Madrid 2-1 in the second leg of their last-eight appointment at the Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior replied for the holders following a mistake by William Saliba, but it was otherwise a comfortable night for Arsenal, who added a second through Gabriel Martinelli three minutes into stoppage time.
It comes after Arsenal’s unexpected 3-0 demolition of Madrid at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg, in which Declan Rice scored two outstanding goals from direct free kicks within 12 minutes.
Rice insisted Arsenal are intent on going the distance and winning the Champions League, as the Premier League team continue to impress in Europe.
"It's such a special and historic night for this club. We want to win this competition," man-of-the-match Rice told TNT Sports.
"There was a lot of talk coming here about them coming back because they've done it so many times before, but we had so much belief and confidence from the first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game."
The midfielder was excellent again as the Premier League club staked their claim to the semi-finals, where they will face PSG, with a crushing 5-1 aggregate victory.
"The semi-finals are massive for us. We want to take tonight in because we want to take it one step at a time. It's PSG next who are an amazing team," Rice said.
"We've played PSG once already. We feel they are a different team to back then. We've seen what they can do, but Aston Villa caused them a lot of problems."
The Gunners last played PSG in October 2024, when they beat the French team by 2-0.
PSG advanced after beating Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate, after a spirited fightback from the Birmingham side failed to see them equalise against the French giants and force the game into extra time.
Villa fell agonisingly short of pulling off one of the great comebacks, after they appeared dead and buried midway through the first half of their quarter-final second leg when goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes put the French champions up 2-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate.
A rousing response saw Unai Emery's men hit back through Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa to earn a 3-2 win on the night, but they fell to a 5-4 aggregate loss.The game ended a memorable campaign, with a famous league stage win over Bayern Munich among many special nights, as Villa harboured hopes of repeating their 1982 European Cup triumph.
Elsewhere in the Champions League, Inter Milan is set to take on Barcelona after holding Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw at the San Siro.
Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard struck in three second-half minutes for the Serie A leaders to propel them in front after Harry Kane had blasted Bayern 1-0 ahead with a classy finish.
Eric Dier ensured a nervy end to the match for the hosts when he struck with 14 minutes left but Inter held out for a 4-3 aggregate win.
