UEFA Champions League: Arsenal humble Real Madrid in a 3-0 drubbing

By Emmanuel Akyereko

English giants Arsenal have taken a huge step towards booking a ticket to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semi-finals after dismantling Real Madrid 3-0 at Emirates Stadium in quarter-final first-leg clash on Tuesday night.

The Gunners have preserved their status of being the only English club yet to suffer defeat against the 15-time champions in any European competition as Mikel Arteta’s side stunned the star-studded Los Blancos a lopsided affair which saw all three goals registered in the first-half.

Declan Rice opened the scoring with an artful free-kick in the 58th minute to throw the La Liga giants into confusion before repeating the art on the 64th minute mark through another unbelievable free-kick which beat Thibaut Courtois at full stretch.

Mikel Merino nailed the coffin of Carlo Ancelotti’s men when he intelligently applied a curly short to a pass from 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly 15 minutes from the end of time.

Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was sent off after picking a second booking of the night inside stoppage-time.