Clinical Russo leads Arsenal to epic comeback victory against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Arsenal laid their Women’s Champions League credentials out on the crisp Emirates Stadium pitch, a remarkable 3-0 victory ensuring their passage to the semi-finals.

This was arguably the Gunners’ finest performance of the season: Kim Little was metronomic, Leah Williamson elite, Mariona Caldentey hungry, Alessia Russo clinical and Chloe Kelly unplayable, as they dominated from start to finish.

The home side had been profligate in the first half, but it mattered little with three goals in a rampant 13 minutes setting up a delicious semi-final against the eight-time Champions League winners Lyon and the former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro.

The vibe around the team had been positive. “We have belief that we can do it,” Renée Slegers said beforehand. Arsenal had been here before, overturning a 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals two years ago, but the mountain was that bit bigger, Athenea del Castillo adding to Linda Caicedo’s strike in the 82nd minute of the first leg to heap pressure on the showdown in north London.

There could be no excuses on the carpet-like surface for which their game is built, the torrential rain and torn-up pitch at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefáno providing some forgiving context to the 2-0 defeat in Spain.

This was at Arsenal’s home, though, in front of more than 20,000 fans who anxiously urged their team forward again and again as they sought to reduce the deficit early on. The home team were dominant, accruing more than 65% of possession in the first half and 26 touches in the opposition box to Madrid’s three.

For all that, though, the final ball was poor, one shot on target before the interval a damning statistic. Maëlle Lakrar did well to deny Alessia Russo after a wonderful flick from Katie McCabe was met by the England forward and an unmarked Mariona Caldentey sent a header off the bar from the resulting corner. Caitlin Foord struggled to connect cleanly with a Russo ball and landed heavily, and cross after cross from Kelly was wasted.

In the 41st minute there was a huge let‑off for the Gunners, Daphne van Domselaar’s double save keeping them in it. That was the final meaningful action of the first half and, with time ticking away from the hosts, hope started to seep from the crowd.

Madrid were well organised, having made just one enforced change to the team that won in Spain, with Melanie Leupolz absent through injury, and confidence was high following a first defeat of the La Liga champions Barcelona on Sunday. They absorbed the Arsenal pressure relatively comfortably.

There was no time to waste but the blueprint had been there in the first half. It took one minute for Arsenal to do what they had not been able to do for 45 minutes: capitalise on Kelly’s crosses.

Russo turned in from her England teammate straight after the restart and three minutes later the tie was level via the same source – this time Caldentey’s head was there to meet Kelly’s ball and direct it coolly past Misa Rodríguez.

Just before the hour Arsenal had the lead in the tie for the first time when McCabe’s free-kick was nodded down by Steph Catley and swept in by Russo. The turnaround was remarkable and deserved and the Emirates Stadium crowd delighted in every touch, turn and pass.

The Gunners did not take their foot off the gas after their 13-minute blitz and the Spanish side just could not cope with the relentless pressure, Olga Carmona run ragged by the re‑energised Kelly, who rejoined Arsenal on loan from Manchester City at the end of January.

The Gunners thought they had been rewarded for all that work just past the 70th minute, when Russo slotted Frida Maanum’s ball in past Rodríguez, but after wildly celebrating her hat-trick it was chalked off following a VAR check for the narrowest of offsides.

Beth Mead and Lia Wälti replaced Kelly and Maanum as the clock ticked down, while an exhausted Carmona was taken off as one of three changes for the visitors a few minutes later.

Russo was denied her hat-trick a second time with two minutes remaining, adjudged offside again after slotting past the Spanish goalkeeper for a fourth time.

Any frustration the forward may have felt, though, was suitably muted by a win celebrated exuberantly, the fans filling the 60,000-seat stadium with noise.

With this emphatic performance Arsenal have sent a statement to the rest of the rest of Europe. The semi-final against Montemurro’s Lyon awaits, with the French giants having secured a 6-1 aggregate win against Bayern Munich. Those fixtures will be played over the last two weekends in April.

• This article was amended on 27 March 2025. Arsenal overturned a 1-0 quarter-final deficit against Bayern Munich in 2023, not last season as an earlier version said.

Header image: [Photograph: Adam Davy/PA]