Arsenal eliminated Real Madrid from this season’s Champions League competition on Wednesday night, ending Real Madrid’s chances of keeping their title. Los Blancos needed to overcome a three-goal deficit going into the second leg of their quarterfinal match at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Even though Real Madrid lost the first leg in North London, there was still hope in Spain that they would bounce back and advance in the competition. They lost 2-1 that evening (5-1 overall), nevertheless, as they were unable to rally for the game.
When Bukayo Saka broke the second-half stalemate, it appeared as though he had taken Arsenal through. However, Vinicius Jr. gave Real Madrid a lifeline nearly immediately after the restart by taking advantage of a catastrophic William Saliba blunder. Gabriel Martinelli’s goal in stoppage time guaranteed Real Madrid’s elimination from the competition after they failed to score any more goals.
Real Madrid Missed Player Named by Thibaut Courtois
He wasn’t too pleased with their strategies.
When Thibaut Courtois saved Saka’s penalty in the first half, he demonstrated why he is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world and kept Real Madrid in the match. But his efforts were ultimately vain, as he criticised his team’s tactics in a brutally honest interview following the game. According to Marca, he stated:
“If you save it, you will continue to believe when they give you a penalty. We started off posing a threat, and the supporters pushed us, but Arsenal is a well-organised, defensive team, and the striker and wingers return.
“We believed at halftime that the game would have been open if we had scored the first goal. In the end, they found the first goal, and we promptly tied it. You keep thinking, but we weren’t effective up front, and I don’t think Raya had to make any outstanding saves. We must acknowledge that we lost to a better Arsenal.
He went on to chastise the team for attempting too many crosses when they lacked the players needed to score from them. They missed Joselu, who left the team last summer, he said.
“They are ultimately a well-organised, well-defensive, well-pressed team that finds it challenging to find space. Joselu, a natural striker up front, is not with us this season, so we put in a lot of crosses. We must thoroughly examine our areas for improvement.
The Belgian goalie went on to say that he believes the team occasionally plays too individually. “We are a team, but sometimes I feel like we play too individually,” he continued, according to MadridZone. Sometimes it works when they double-team Vini or Kylian, but three out of four times it doesn’t. We must improve if we hope to win.
In the Champions League final four, Arsenal will now take on Paris Saint-Germain, the team who defeated Liverpool and Aston Villa. In the meanwhile, Real Madrid will focus on La Liga. With seven games left, they are now four points behind Barcelona in the title battle.
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