If the “magic moments”, as Mikel Arteta put it, didn’t make it clear, two images revealed the scale of Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. One was the scene in the dressing room, where staff congratulating the players could barely be heard over the noise. It was raucous.
When Declan Rice came in with his man-of-the-match award, he was laughing about how Nicolas Jover told him to cross his first free kick. A few yards away, Carlo Ancelotti could barely be heard for very different reasons. The Real Madrid manager’s voice was unusually low for his post-match press conference, which didn’t last long. Ancelotti has rarely been so subdued.
