Where to begin? As with all good fairy tales, let us begin at the beginning. The European Champions were coming to N5. Arsenal were without Havertz, Jesùs, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Calafiori, – all injured, and Sterling suspended. Saka and White were still coming back from injuries. Madrid were without Tchouameni. That’s about it. They had a front line of Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. Bellingham was in midfield. Okay, they were hampered by 56-year-old former Sp*rs player Modric. But this was counter balanced by having Bellingham in midfield. Pre -match, 21CG and I thought that a draw or a 1-0 win would be a significant achievement.
The Tube was quiet from the end of the Piccadilly Line down to Arsenal. Emerging into the late evening sunshine, there was a positive, but not electric atmosphere. However, with every yard taken towards the ground the atmosphere began to build. Until, upon entering the ground, the singing and chanting around the bars, which had become a feature over the last few years but really rather died this season, became apparent again. It was loud. The fans had taken in what Mikel had to say and had truly brought, as our American cousins say, their ‘A game’.
The players took to the field to one of the ersatz anthems which UEFA is trying to force fans to accept as being in any way a meaningful part of the evening’s entertainment. Someone at UEFA headquarters has clearly swallowed a brand development textbook. Equally clearly, the chapter about the necessity for some kind of authenticity being a central part had been torn out or otherwise undigested. The crowd quite rightly totally ignored it and drowned it out. As if further to hammer home the point, the new Arsenal anthem, The Angel, rang out. It oozes authenticity with its talk of The Angel and Popham and Morland estates. It was sung heartily and soulfully. These streets are our own, truly. UEFA, you just don’t get it.
Arsenal started like a train, with a barrage of fast passing and slippery movement. In the 6th minute a couple of corners from Saka on the left were excellently delivered, the second of which may only have missed resulting in a goal on account of the ball hitting Saliba pretty much on the Madrid line. Madrid were restricted to attempting fast counters. None of which were in any way convincing in the first 10 minutes. We were dominating the ball and the territory. Lewis-Skelly was playing, under instruction, anywhere he bloody well wanted, and looking far too comfortable for an 18-year-old. On 12 minutes a lightning break down the left from Martinelli resulting in a snap shot from Partey which unfortunately was pretty much at Courtois. Madrid broke and won a corner but we then had a bizarre VAR investigation for a penalty. Inside the ground nobody had an earthly what this was for but after the game it turned out it was for the ball hitting the arm of a Madrid player in the box in the previous attack. It was denied, quite rightly. At which point one thinks of the ludicrous penalty given to Inter in Milan back in November when the ball was fired at an arm. It would appear UEFA are no more consistent than PGMOL. Not a level to which they ought to aspire.
Somehow we went in at half-time level after Courtois saved first from a Rice header and then a Martinelli follow-up shot. Fair play to the Fulham Road bus stop escapee. Two good saves. I’m sure even as we speak he is organising the sending of Red Cross parcels to some of the present inmates of Stalag Boehly, consisting of cake with embedded files and ink for forging travel papers from SW6 to the free world.
Half time – Arsenal 0 Madrid 0
Arsenal came out for the second half and Madrid tried to psyche us out by appearing after even the officials came out. Curiously that gimmick just felt a bit desperate rather than clever. Again, Arsenal started brightly in the second half; again, bolstered by a boisterous crowd. Madrid had some possession but did little to nothing with it. They did the standard ‘Dying Swan’ when they lost the ball. Plus ça change, as they say. No doubt at this point Madrid were happy not to have conceded despite having offered very little.
Then in the 56th minute, Saka received the ball in his customary wide right position and drove inside taking Alaba with him. After holding for about 10 yards, the Austrian fouled Saka and we had a free kick a good 30 yards out in a slightly right of central position. Now I must confess, my brothers and sisters, at this point to some scepticism of the outcome of the free kick. Not having scored from a free kick since Ødegaard some time back in the reign of the last UK monarch, I was not hopeful and expected a flighted delivery to make the most of our height and size advantage. Players clustered round the ball but eventually left it to one of Ødegaard or Rice. I’m pretty sure locals to the ground will have reported a sonic boom around 9.18pm. Courtois may well have reported a UFO. He can’t have had much idea what it was that flashed past him.
Arsenal 1 Madrid 0
On 66 we could have doubled the lead, Martinelli bringing an excellent save from Courtois after great work from Lewis-Skelly, Alaba saving off the line from Merino and then Courtois saving again from Merino. From the resulting corner Rice had a shot kicked off the line. We were all over them like a rash. From the resulting corner Bellingham kicked off the line from a Rice shot. Saka then won a free kick after being fouled serially for around 15 yards. The referee managed to yellow card Camavinga for his part. A cluster appeared again around the ball, with this dissipating to leave only Ødegaard and Rice. This was slightly left of centre of the goal, a little closer in, around 25 yards. Rice hit the ball like Tiger Woods in his prime. Oh my Lord!
Arsenal 2 Madrid 0
Hubristically, Madrid now decided to really push, as if they thought Arsenal were in some way undeserving of the lead. Merino was their Nemesis. In 74 after a really clever break, Lewis-Skelly passed to Merino on the edge of the box and the Spaniard passed the ball into the net.
If only we had a striker.
Arsenal 3 Madrid 0
The ground resounded with that most beautiful of hymns, translated from the original Old Testament Psalm – Are you Tottenham in Disguise? For verily were they smote.
Madrid made some changes – some blokes on, some blokes off. It made no difference. Rice came off for the hugely unlucky, massively talented and loved Tierney. Finally, the referee decided that enough spears had been plunged into this particular bull and put them out of their misery. The ground went wild. People were looking at one another wide eyed and wide mouthed, Nobody thought we could be quite this good.
This was a night which made player ratings utterly superfluous. Nobody in red was anything less than sublime. Although, to steal from Orwell, some were more sublime than others. Partey ran the midfield. I have no idea where Lewis -Skelly was playing but am more than grateful for his apparent omnipresence. 18? Saka gave a world class fullback, Alaba, a torrid time. Salaba will be picking pieces of lint out of his pocket for days trying to find Mbappe. Ødegaard and Martinelli were Trojan in their tirelessness. Lest we forget Kiwior who was immaculate. He is quite a centre half. It was an absolute privilege to be in the ground tonight to watch our team totally destroy one of the greatest clubs in the world. To watch a London boy totally outshine a much-vaunted Brummie. If I may nearly quote one of the latter’s celebrated West Midlands predecessors:
And Gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here.
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Totteringham’s day (near enough)…..
No need to feel accurs’d, people. Leave that to Bellingham and Co. Bask in the Spartan determination to win. Revel in the sheer joy of wonderful football. Bathe in the enveloping warmth of the team spirit and beautiful, flowing football which our manager has engendered.
I hope to see some of you in Madrid next week. Mine’s a glass of tinto.
Brilliant. The match and the report thanks CER.
What a night to be a gooner.
3 fabulous goals. 4XXX and prawns on the barbi all round.
Dreamland.
Arteta Out!
UTA.
Absolutely brilliant. Captured all of my emotions and observations.
I have also to admit to some doubt over the desirability of anyone striking the first free kick at the goal. “Surely not, play it wide was in my mind” because I expected nothing more than the rebound of the wall that we’ve been seeing for quite some time now. Sackcloth with ash on it is not an early morning robe of comfort I’m finding.
Also at 3-0, what should come into my mind was 21CG’s prescription for a 3-1 outcome “Oh no, he’s cursed us, they’re going to get a goal”. On this occasion, I’m very pleased our young scribe was in error.
Great prematch too with Bath and Steve T – the latter hasn’t lost any of his sense of ‘humour’.
Brilliant night that will live long in my memory. I have never previously witnessed two perfect free kick goals of that calibre in seven decades of watching this wonderful game.
Great report CER. What a glorious night. Surely the best ever performance at the Emirates. Surely a coming of age performance for this young team. Who knows where the ceiling is. Still a job to do next week. But we can win this thing.
Bit odd to be greeted with a photo of the Spurs team for the new blog, but I shall read it nonetheless. 🙂
To be fair, Real were also missing a pair of starting fullbacks, Carvajal and F. Mendy. And, massively, er Dani Ceballos! 😛
Joyous report, CER!
Enjoy Madrid, finish the mission and, hopefully, I’ll see you in Paris. 😉
(Fuck Villa, it would be very disappointing, also I mostly remember bad things about playing English clubs in the CL: Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U…)
Another tinto , and a couole more after that, for the globetrotting GHF Arsenal correspondent if you please, barman. The bloke is on a roll, much as the boys in red and white. 🍷🍷🍷
A joyous report, CER. We happy few, we band of brothers.
Bravo, CER! A masterful report, it transported me, if fleetingly, back to yesterday’s exploits. Enjoy Madrid, and bring back that Blancos scalp.
BMBD
Re: Ollie @5, Real were missing Dani Ceballos you say? No wonder we smashed them to smithereens. 😂
Good chap that Ceballos. Drinks Estrella, grom what I hear. 🤭
Another super feature from the weekly CER Gazette !
Excellently summarised – and some nice nearly quotes.
What a shame that “Totteringham’s” just spoiled the iambic pentameter of the West Midlands fella. Still, you can’t trust that lot with anything, can you ?
A quite brilliant performance. My only misgiving before the match was exposing Miles Lewis-Skelly to this kind of opposition in a match of this importance at this stage of his development. The lad was absolutely faultless in a technically complex role. Skill, strength, courage, character and perfect decision making. And 18 years old !
Two magnificent free kicks, a wonderful finish from our apprentice centre forward and and all round masterful display in which every last player shone.
One last wish – a strong and fair referee in the Bernebeu next week. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Look, Trev @ end of 11. The extent of yesterday’s victory was unlikely. Now you’re asking for the impossible. 😬
All,
Many thanks for the kind words. It’s amazing how being fuelled by Estrella from the Arsenal Tavern and Peloponnese red at home can make the words flow when writing a report. I have it on good authority it’s the same mix used by the West Midlands fella.
Trev @11- nice point about Them Lot spoiling the metre. What do you expect from that bunch of barbarians?
A magnificent game like that deserves a magnificent report and CER has provided it . I’ve long thought that we match up well to anybody in Europe when at our strongest ( or thereabouts) and I found a lot of the pre- match pessimism wildly OTT. It will return before next Wednesday from some of the doom- mongers but let’s enjoy a wonderful moment in Arsenal history . I remember wandering around Paris in 2006, pre- match wondering if the likes of Eboue , Flamini and Hleb could propel us to victory over Barca . They so nearly did .
This current team are so much stronger and yesterday they were brilliantly coached . Madrid couldn’t live with the intensity of the press, the pace and trickery of Saka and Martinelli , the rampaging runs of MLS and Rice and the canny midfield maestro Partey . I hope Mikel plays a very rotated team v Brentford and sends them out again to grind the Madridistas into the Bernabeu dust ( ok grass!)
CER, Dave would have been as proud of that report as a legacy of his style that perfectly and succinctly captured the action and the vibe of yesterday evening as he would have been of his boys in red and white proving that dynamite is by no means a hyperbolic epithet.
Just exquisite!
Thanks vm, TTG and CER. It was a labour of love. And a labour without any toil.
PSG are looking good against Villa. Khvaratskelia and Doue look fabulous.
Adam Cleary on last night
Thanks for the link, SP. Clery on the money, as usual.
What a night!! The whole team deserve all the plaudits that have been given. You captured the events & spirit perfectly CER, thank you.
Thanks CER, great stuff as others have said.
Good to hear the team talking of winning next week too.
That €5 retutn away trip became a little closer last night…
Ollie,
Is it true that the capacity at the Park des Princes is less than 50k? Were we to get through, this would mean around 2,500 tickets available to us for the Paris leg, making it very difficult to attend.
It is true indeed, not a big ground which is why plans for moving are seriously taking shape as the City of Paris don’t want to sell the ground to QSG and so no expansion is possible.
If both teams go through, I wouldn’t expect a ticket unless some generous benefactor is willing to sell me one (and then they can crash for free at mine), but I’d be making the ‘trip’ for pre and post match drinks and shenanigans, as I expect to be able to walk (possibly not completely normally) by then. Haven’t checked the dates yet, let’s get through first.
One ‘ appealing’ morsel on the horizon is the prospect of a North London Super Cup Final next season. It’s usually in Monaco I believe so the Muswell Hill Boys will be very much in their element there .
Or could we see a Champions League double for our men’s and women’s teams? Remember a great 3-0 win at home against Real Madrid for the ladies too.
Well we can dream
Thanks SP for attaching the Cleary analysis which, if you are interested in tactics is fifteen minutes very well spent . It underlines the way that we use MLS to beat the press ( his heat map is insane ) and I was interested in how deep Merino was in the first half . Clerg implies we would have really boshed them with a proper striker but I gave enormous regard for the job Merino is doing and his finish was sublime . It also ( as if we needed it) underlined just his good Saka is . Well worth a watch
SP @17, thanks for that excellent link. Cleary’s analyses are so informative.
It underlines how MLS grows more important to this team game by game and, as TTG observes, how vital Saka’s recovery is to this victory.
Great piece by Mike McDonald. It’s the moments you remember. I so agree.
C100@28: Thanks for the link. A great read. He is right that, as player or fan, it is the moments one remembers.
The truest line in the piece: [Arteta] is the main person responsible for taking us from Arsenal 1 Bayern Munich 5 to Arsenal 3 Real Madrid 0.
Thank you, c100 for that great link. What a moment or three, indeed. Then a prolonged period of joy that began when we didn’t concede near the end, and that is still percolating through my memory. Three goals that Madrid didn’t come close to matching, which should up our confidence immeasurably gor the Bernabeu trip. Trust in Arteta, indeed.
I think it’s about time more people gave Mikel Merino some proper respect for the job he has done up front for us. Without any provisos just look at his numbers since he made the switch. They compare with anyone and his finish against Raal Madrid was quite brilliant. I’m still trying to work out how he generated that much pace and turn on a shot that was essentially behind him.
It certainly was a top top quality finish, Trev.
In other news from the Kroenke-verse, the Denver Nuggets fired their head coach on Tuesday, in a decision announced by Josh Kroenke. Coach Michael Malone had taken the Nuggets to their only NBA championship in 2023, just 2 years ago. From what I can tell, the reaction to this firing has been of shock. The Nuggets are playoff-bound this season and have one of the best NBA centers ever in Jocic. They also fired the general manager at the same time and apparently Malone and the GM didn’t get along. Who knows?
From what one reads, it seems like the coach and the GM were at loggerheads over recruitment and team selection policy (veterans v yooofs), and that the coach had lost the locker room. Hopefully, we are a long way from that on both scores. Interesting though that Josh Kroenke’s solution was to clear out both of them.
@17 and @28 thanks for the links gents
Mike’s piece was very enjoyable, starting with a stroll
down the good memory lane 😄
>>>>>>>