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It was the half-time team talk to turn a tie, and save a season. Whatever Renee Slegers said, Arsenal emerged from the break to tear Real Madrid to pieces, scoring three goals in 14 minutes to reach the Women’s Champions League semi-finals at a canter. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, Arsenal turned it around with a 3-0 victory that flattered the visitors. The Gunners are the first team since 2018 to overturn a two-goal deficit and, with a semi-final against eight-time winners Lyon to come next month, the power of the Emirates was apparent again in this competition, delivering another rousing night.
There could certainly be no complaints about the pitch, following the criticism of the sodden surface in Madrid last week. Back in north London, Slegers’s side were slick and irrepressible. It took 45 minutes of frustration for the breakthrough to arrive but Arsenal were magnificent once it did; Alessia Russo scored twice, though her night could, and should, have ended with a hat-trick. That it didn’t meant Real Madrid were still alive deep in stoppage time, where Arsenal survived a late break from Linda Caicedo. It was, really, the only nerves Arsenal had to face.
