Real Madrid are staring down the barrel of a Champions League exit after falling to a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Emirates Stadium.
It was an action-packed first half in North London as both sides sought the breakthrough. However, it did not come in the opening 45 minutes despite Mikel Merino and Kylian Mbappe both going very close, but they were each denied by David Raya and Thibaut Courtois respectively.
Courtois produced a monstrous performance as he made five important saves, but he was powerless to stop Arsenal from taking the lead just before the hour mark. From 25 yards out, Declan Rice curled an unstoppable free-kick from the right into the top corner, leaving the Real Madrid goalkeeper with no chance.
10 minutes later, the Arsenal midfielder repeated the trick from the other side. On this occasion, he picked out the same corner as his first goal to make it 2-0 as the home crowd exploded with delight. And it would get even better for the Premier League side as they added a third soon after as Mikel Merino curled the ball into the bottom corner after being set up by Myles Lewis-Skelly.
And it would get even worse for Real Madrid in the closing stages. Eduardo Camavinga had already picked up the booking that would mean that he missed next week’s second leg due to an accumulation of yellow cards, but in stoppage time, he was shown a second after kicking the ball away in frustration.
Real Madrid are very much up against it now in this tie, and they will need one of their performances of recent years if they are to overturn the advantage at the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday. But doing so won’t be easy given that Arsenal are a very good defensive side.
