Declan Rice was up against Jude Bellingham and there was only one winner. He was absolutely magnificent.
#Arsenal’s Mikel Merino is just the third visiting player in UEFA Champions League history to assist 2 goals against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu after Predrag Djordjevic for Olympiakos in October 2007 & Dusan Tadic for Ajax in March 2019.
— Harvey Downes (@harveydownes92.bsky.social) April 16, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Bukayo Saka on his penalty miss..
It can happen. I tried something, but it didn’t work. I was confident I was going to score tonight. I learn in every moment. Tonight, I am more focused on enjoying the win and then I will review it properly.
Source: TNT Sports
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Declan Rice on a monumental win…
It’s such a special night for this club – an historic night. We have an objective: we want to play the best teams and win the competition. 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. We knew we were going to suffer, but we knew we were going to win. We had it in our minds and now we’ve done it in real life.
Source: Uefa.com
#Arsenal’s record when Gabriel Martinelli scores:
W W W D W D D W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W D D W W W W W W W W W D W W W D W
— Harvey Downes (@harveydownes92.bsky.social) April 16, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Myles Lewis-Skelly on the Bernabeu atmosphere…
When you see it on TV, it’s a lot different to when you come here live. It was incredible. When I first walked out, it’s a lot, but I just tried to take in the moment and have fun. As a team, we knew it was going to be like this and we knew as long as we stuck together and kept backing each other through the highs and lows, we’d be fine.
Source: Uefa.com
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Matthew Upson on Madrid’s form…
This Real Madrid team is not at the level that these supporters expect. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some changes at some point. You can say that’s because Arsenal are well-drilled. I thought physically, there was a gulf between the two teams. Arsenal were never really threatened, and they looked the likelier to score themselves.
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
Midfield duo Thomas Partey (21/21) & Declan Rice (25/26) misplaced just one pass between them this evening against Real Madrid.
— Harvey Downes (@harveydownes92.bsky.social) April 16, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Theo Walcott on a mouth-watering semi-final…
Arsenal’s confidence was there before this win – it was there from the 3-0 win in the first leg. Now, though, after beating Real again at the Bernabeu with this performance, I think everyone will take notice, right across Europe. What a tie their semi-final will be with Paris Saint-Germain. It is such a hard tie to call, because both teams are probably consistently playing at the highest level they have done in the Champions League for many years.
Source: BBC Sport
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Rice on VAR overturning a penalty against him…
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 a box. You have to try and stop him. Someone’s going to let him go. But I knew it wasn’t a pen. I’m an honest guy. I said to him straight away, like, and I said to Vasquez, 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.
Source: TNT Sports
With the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals done and dusted, we’re now left with the final four teams.
Who will win the competition? Here’s what the Opta supercomputer thinks after tonight: theanalyst.com/2025/04/cham…
— Opta Analyst (@optaanalyst.optajoe.com) April 16, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Arteta on the attitude of his players…
The only thing that we discussed over the last three days was that we’re coming here to win. It’s not only about going through, it’s in the manner that we have to do it in, because we are capable of doing it. Setting those demands and that mindset is very important for the team. I think it shows the capacity of the team, that against any opponent, when we are at our best, we can perform, especially with adversity and a lot of players that are not even involved here. The way we are doing it, I think it’s special.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Arteta on the travelling fans…
Incredible – thank you so much to all the supporters that have been with us in this journey, in Madrid, around the hotel, and feeling that belief and support towards them. I think it’s the purpose of our job to make our people happy. Hopefully, they feel very proud about the players and the team. Now, let’s go for more.
Source: Post-game press conference
