Difficult to know where to start. But what a night! Unquestionably the biggest occasion the stadium has ever seen. Bigger than that famous victory over Barcelona in 2011, and bigger even than the Bruce Springsteen gig staged there in 2008. And I'm a massive Springsteen fan! In truth, Arsenal have largely under-performed in the 19-year history of the stadium, despite the odd delirious high, and it needed a night like this one. A night on which to create some history. To - as Arteta had been drumming in to players and fans alike - Make It Happen.
From the moment we started the walk to the ground we could sense it. The amount of singing. The queues that formed so early at the gates. The atmosphere on the concourses, and even in the queues for the urinals! The sense of anticipation as the seats filled up much earlier than usual. The on point music. The light show. The banners. The tifo display. The Angel being belted out prior to the Champions League anthem. The sense of anticipation at seeing such iconic names pitted against our boys. And the feeling of jeopardy felt by everyone (well, I say everyone... Sam, sitting next to me, told me he'd had a bet on a 3-0 Arsenal win. I of course told him that he was mad! - because this, after all, was Real Madrid).
No surprises in the team selection from Arteta. He'd expressed his confidence in Kivior the day before, and the vibes that Saka was going to start were very clear. The question for us supporters was how the team was going to cope with Real's pacy, electrifying forward line, but it was clear that there were weaknesses elsewhere. Carvajal, Militao and Mendy all out injured. Tchouameni suspended. Rudiger feeling the stress of a long season. The veteran Alaba barely back from injury himself. Goalkeeper Courtois had also been out for a few weeks. So there would be opportunities, and we sensed that. But...
And so to the game. Early nerves, featuring errors from Kivior in the very first minute (Mbappé‘s long-range effort was tame), Saka and even Saliba, who was momentarily wrong-footed by an errant pass by Kivior; Mbappé, on the end of Vinicius's pass, was offside before blasting the ball over (and here's something that annoys me abut that incident. Mbappé was clearly offside, yet the instructions to officials are to let play go on - I've never been sure why if the offside is clear - and so Timber took a knock from the Frenchman as he chased back. Fortunately, he was OK after treatment, by I've never been sure why such an element of jeopardy should be introduced).
Later on in the half, Saliba stumbled and almost let Vinicius through, but Timber was there to cover. So for all Arsenal's possession and desire to take the sting out of Madrid's game, the threat on the break was always there.
But Arsenal had their chances also. Starboy, who cannot yet be fully up to speed, was causing havoc on the Arsenal right as Bellingham and Modric tried to stop him getting at Alaba. An early clumsy foul from Modric led to a free kick, but Odegaard's poor cross was intercepted and Madrid broke quickly; and the imperious Saliba dealt with Vinicius Jnr with the minimum of fuss. Saka then got another opportunity to run at Alaba, and his low cross caused confusion between Camavinga and Rudiger. The second of two successive corners saw Partey's glancing header blocked on the line - by Saliba!
A bit of cat and mouse followed, but there was more than a glimmer of danger when Bellingham robbed Timber and set the rapid - I had no idea how quick he was until I saw him in the flesh - Mbappé through. Raya, however, was once more comfortably equal to the attempted Henry-esque finish.
Towards the end of the half, Saka created two superb chances with low crosses into the 6-yard box. And we could all see his visual frustration as the lack of an instinctive centre-forward meant that the anticipation wasn't quite there for anybody to get onto the end of them - particularly the first one, although we had the joy of seeing Saka get the better of Bellingham before he crossed.
The final meaningful action of the half saw the first really clear cut chance, as Rice met Timber's cross and his firm header was beaten out only to Martinelli, only for Courtois to complete the double save. Getting closer, but we turned at 0-0 and with the tension still palpable and the crowd still completely engaged.
Whilst the second half started as the first had, two things struck me. Firstly that whilst Arsenal were content to look to take the sting out of their opponents and work the opposition around, Madrid were as happy to go long early as they were to knock the ball around themselves. And with that pace in their forward line, why not? And secondly I was amazed at Arsenal’s energy levels; how quickly they were prepared to get back in numbers whenever they had to. I read later that Arsenal had run 1k more per man than Madrid, which tells a tale.
Just before the hour, the first decisive moment of the game, and a really meaningful contribution from Saka, who drove across the pitch with Alaba in his wake before drawing a foul around 10 yards outside the penalty area and fairly central.
A clamour has been starting recently amongst Arsenal fans for Declan Rice to be given more opportunities on direct free kicks, based on a combination of Odegaard’s continued lack of success and the purity and quality of Dec’s corner and free kick delivery since the squad returned from Dubai last January.
I, for one, was calling for Saka to defer to him as they stood over the ball and, whilst I don’t think that Courtois’s wall was either wide enough or well-enough positioned, the sheer purity of the hit was outstanding. Hit with pace, and a Roberto Carlos style curl that started the ball a good two yards outside the post, it was past the despairing dive of the keeper and nestling in the back of the net in a split second.
What a hit! And the crowd went ballistic! Noise at levels I’ve rarely heard in the ground as the enormity of what Arsenal were doing began to hit home. Each replay was greeted with oohs and aahs of disbelief, and I was telling everyone around me that they’d have to go a long way to see a better free kick than that as long as they lived.
Buoyed on by a rampant crowd - one that had been backing the team loudly all evening and who now stepped up the volume even further - Arsenal began to pummel Real. The home team were suddenly well on top, and we soon saw a dramatic passage of play involving a triple block/save as first Martinelli’s shot was saved by Courtois, then Merino’s follow-up kicked off the line by Alaba, only for the keeper to beat out a third effort from Merino again. A remarkable piece of action, and we were ruing the ball not having found the net. From the ensuing corner, it was Bellingham this time who cleared a Rice shot off the line. The pressure on Real was intense, but around me we were wondering if Arsenal didn’t need to reflect their authority in the scoreline right then; or live to regret it.
As it turned out, I got my free kick prediction completely wrong, as we had to wait fully 12 minutes after the first for Rice to better the previous one. Saka repeated his drive infield, and this time it was Camavinga who brought him down (the subsequent yellow card thus ruling him out of the second leg; but more of that later). And then…
Pandemonium, as the Arsenal half of the wall split and Rice’s effort crashed into the very top corner of the net. Top bins, as Jimmy Bullard used to say on the now sadly defunct Soccer Saturday, and two goalkeepers wouldn’t have kept that out! Cries of ‘Declan Rice - we got him half price’, rang out as the television cameras showed the reactions of a number of players. Odegaard and Saliba with their hands on their heads in disbelief. Bellingham and Mbappé in shock.
These, by the way, were apparently the first direct free kicks scored by an Arsenal player since October 2021 (I’m not quite sure about that stat though). And the first - and second - direct free kicks scored by Rice himself in his entire top class career of 339 matches. Remarkable.
Interesting to hear what Rice himself said about his free kick technique after the game: ‘When I look up quickly I don’t get quite the same consistency as when I just focus on the ball… and keep my head down’. A perfect comparison with one’s feelings when standing over any shot, as all amateur golfers would testify. A dead ball is a dead ball, no matter what the sport is.
The coup de grace was delivered by Merino following a fluid move involving (inevitably) Rice, Trossard, MLS and then finally the Spaniard, whose clever first time finish from the edge of the penalty area wrong-footed Courtois. To add to the remarkable statistics, this means that Merino has scored more goals against Real Madrid than any other opponent. And that makes 6 goals in 10 matches since he was forced up front by the injury to Havertz. Astonishing, frankly. Although anybody who suggests that Arsenal don’t need to buy a centre forward in the summer will get short shrift from me; and from you too, I suspect.
There remained time for Camavinga to receive his marching orders for kicking the ball away. But also for Bellingham to somehow avoid a yellow for a series of tugs on Odegaard’s shirt that would have ruled him out of the second leg - although Arsenal do have a 3-0 lead, it would have made their lives a lot easier next week were Bellingham to be unavailable.
Those last 15 minutes of the match were played out to a background of celebration. The Arsenal version of Liverpool’s ‘Allez Allez’ song rang out loud and clear, before being followed up by a side-splitting rendition of ‘Are you Tottenham in disguise?’ The ignominy! Oh how we laughed! On the sidelines, Ancelotti’s lugubrious bulldog face looked more and more glum as time went on - as it happens, this may well be his final year at Madrid if, as looks likely, the club exits the Champions League at what is a very early stage for them, and also fails to win La Liga. That’s the harsh reality of life at the very top of club football.
So how did Arsenal achieve this result? Well firstly, as I have been banging on about in my last two posts, Madrid have injuries (don’t we all; unless we’re Liverpool), have got in the habit of letting in too many goals and are frankly in relatively poor form; and even look mentally fragile to my eyes. But this is Real Madrid, after all - all that aura and history in the competition must weigh down on opponents, so that’s not to take anything away from Arsenal.
Coached masterfully by Arteta, Arsenal essentially had Real where they wanted them. They exploited the spaces in midfield left by Real’s midfielders having to double up on the wingers, with Partey (if there’s an option of an extra year on his contract, Arsenal should be sticking the paperwork in front of him right now!) putting in a typically understated but highly efficient performance. He was joined frequently by MLS in order to create further overloads, and Real couldn’t cope. When they realised that they needed to concentrate more on the middle of the pitch, it left the wingers one on one with the full backs.
All Real had to work with was the occasional swift counter attack. With the crucial difference compared to Premier League games being that domestic opponents are used to playing in - and indeed set out to play in - a low block against Arsenal that is frankly anathema to Real Madrid.
The extra space then left Odegaard (still a little way off of his best) and particularly Rice to drive through - often ahead of Merino - and put pressure on the back line.
All over the field, Arsenal were in charge almost throughout. As I’ve mentioned, they ran harder and further than Madrid, and seemed to want it more than their opponents. It’s difficult to pick out any individuals - although Rice was magnificent and will rightly take the plaudits - but I was also particularly impressed with the unrufflable Saliba, MLS, Partey, the selfless Merino… and with Saka, who is still on the comeback trail and ran out of energy after 70 minutes - but not before putting his stamp on the game by tormenting the left hand side of Madrid’s defence.
3-0. And it could have been 5. I just hope that Arsenal don’t regret that in a week’s time, but for me (tempting fate here) the tie is pretty much dead. For all that Madrid will try everything they can - including gamesmanship - to get back into the tie, and they can expect nothing from the officials in Madrid, and the pressure will be immense, Arsenal haven’t let in three goals in a single match since December 2023 - and they still won that one 4-3! We should also bear in mind the amount of jeopardy that Real will be in - Arsenal will have sufficient pace on the counter-attack to hurt them, so they will have to be mindful of that.
The best thing to do is not think about it, because the more we do, the more we will worry. But - believe me - Madrid know that they have a gargantuan task on their hands next week.
Meantime, I’m expecting large-scale rotation for Brentford on Saturday. Starts for White, Tierney, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Trossard, Sterling and Nwaneri for starters. Maybe even a rest for Raya. Nothing should be left to chance. Let’s keep this going - Eurostar tickets, anyone!
COYG!!!
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