Mikel Arteta reveals which Arsenal player he wanted to 'slap' in Real Madrid win

Evening Standard

·17 de abril de 2025

Mikel Arteta reveals which Arsenal player he wanted to 'slap' in Real Madrid win

Mistake did not prove costly as Gunners prevailed at the Bernabeu to set up huge PSG showdown in Champions League semi-finals

Mikel Arteta has joked that he wanted to “slap” Bukayo Saka after his early penalty miss against Real Madrid, but hailed the Arsenal star’s swift Bernabeu bounce back.

Leading 3-0 from the first leg after Declan Rice’s pair of sublime free-kicks at the Emirates Stadium last week, the Gunners had the chance to put their high-profile quarter-final tie against the Champions League holders firmly out of reach on Wednesday night after being awarded a 13th-minute spot-kick by French referee Francois Letexier when Mikel Merino was dragged down by Raul Asencio at a corner.

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However, Saka spurned the chance to put Arsenal in front early and in the process deal a massive psychological blow to Los Blancos’ attempts at ‘La Remontada’, with his chipped Panenka penalty attempt easily repelled by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

"I didn't want to die but maybe I wanted to slap him,” Arteta joked after the game when asked about Saka’s penalty. “He made that decision, he was bold enough to do it and he missed. I was more concerned about the emotional part. What it could do for us.”

However, Saka’s miss mattered little in the end as the England winger quickly brushed off the disappointment and did end up giving Arsenal a second-half lead with a far better lofted finish that beat the onrushing Courtois after being played in by Merino.

A glaring William Saliba error allowed Vinicius Jr to equalise for Madrid just two minutes later, though Arsenal held their nerve to beat Madrid again, 2-1, thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time effort that was also teed up by Merino.

Arsenal are the first English club ever to win twice at the famous Bernabeu, with Thierry Henry having inspired them to become the first back in 2006.

It is the first time they have reached the Champions League semi-finals since losing to Manchester United in 2009, with in-form French champions Paris Saint-Germain - who lost 2-0 at the Emirates during the league phase back in October - now lying in wait in another massive two-legged showdown after narrowly holding off an epic Aston Villa fightback on Tuesday.

Get through that and it would be a final date with either Barcelona - who beat Arsenal in their only previous Champions League final appearance in 2006 in Paris - or Inter Milan at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on May 31.

Arteta could not have been more pleased with Saka’s reaction to missing that penalty, adding: "The personality he showed at his age, in the first time he played in this stadium, incredible."