A jubilant Mikel Arteta said the momentum is with Arsenal to win the Champions League following their historic victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, opened the scoring midway through the second period before Vinicius Junior responded just two minutes later only for Gabriel Martinelli to crown a famous 2-1 win on the night, and a crushing 5-1 aggregate victory, in stoppage time.
Arsenal, who will face Paris St Germain for a place in the semi-finals, made history by becoming the first English team to win in the Bernabeu twice, following Thierry Henry’s masterclass here nearly two decades ago.
And Arteta said: “The feeling that we have is a reality. We are ready to compete against anybody. And now we have to continue to do that because we have some momentum now.
“We are in the semi-final for only the third time in our history, and I am proud of the manner and the way we did it. Not only by the way we played, but also with the circumstances and the amount of injuries we have had.
“It was my first time as a coach in this dugout, and I realised after three minutes that in this stadium, anything is possible. They are the specialists of creating chaos and belief. But my players showed their own maturity and it is a night to be very proud of.”
Arsenal held a 3-0 advantage following Declan Rice’s supreme set-piece double at the Emirates last week, and Saka had the opportunity to kill the tie as early as the 13th minute when Arsenal were awarded a penalty after VAR spotted a foul on Mikel Merino by Raul Asencio.
Captain Martin Odegaard took the ball before handing it to Saka. But Arsenal’s star man fluffed an attempted Panenka with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois palming the poor penalty away with his left arm.
“I would have liked to slap him (Saka),” joked Arteta. “But the player has to make the decision, and he was bold enough to do it.
“That could have been a turning point emotionally in the game because it gave them a lot of belief. But then the way he handled the situation, and the way he played afterwards was incredible.”
Ten minutes later, Real thought they had a penalty of their own when Rice grappled with Kylian Mbappe in the box and the France forward dropped to the deck. However, referee Francois Letexier overruled his original decision and Arsenal survived.
Arteta also revealed he phoned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola ahead of Wednesday’s fixture.
Arteta, who spent four seasons as Guardiola’s number two at the Etihad, said: “I called him this morning because I am here thanks to him. As a player and a coach he has been an inspiration to me. I had four amazing years with him, and I will always be grateful to him.”
For Real Madrid, the defeat places doubt over Carlo Ancelotti’s future as manager of the Spanish giants.
“Maybe the club decides to replace me, and maybe it could be this year, or next year when my contract is over,” said the former Chelsea boss, who has won three of his five Champions League titles as a manager with Real.
“But when I am done here, I will be grateful to this club. That could be tomorrow, 10 days, one month or in one year, but if my contract ends or doesn’t end, I really don’t care.
“We have managed the bright side many times and we have won titles, but we need to manage the dark side, too. And we need to accept it because over the two games, Arsenal have been better than us.”
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