3-0 in London 

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It was a special night in North London and one that Arsenal fans in attendance will never forget. Mikel Arteta’s men stunned Real Madrid with a deserved 3-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final first leg. Arsenal were the better team in the first half, although it remained goalless at half-time but Declan Rice inspired them to victory with two outstanding free-kicks before Mikel Merino added a third.

Rice was undoubtedly the hero as he scored two direct free-kicks after failing to score one in his previous 338 club games. The England international also became the first player in Champions League history to score two direct free-kicks in the knockout stages and just the second Arsenal player to score more than one free-kick in the competition after Thierry Henry. Real Madrid have produced some famous comebacks at the Bernabeu in the Champions League but that appears incredibly unlikely after Arsenal enjoyed one of their most famous wins in recent history.

Arsenal 3 Real Madrid 0: One of Madrid’s heaviest Champions League defeats

The omens are good for Arsenal ahead of the second leg as they’ve never lost a European knockout tie from holding a three-goal lead after the first leg. Moreover, Arsenal have never lost to Real Madrid and they’ve also never conceded a goal in their three encounters. Real Madrid’s star players failed to turn up with Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr all enduring disappointing evenings.

As the graphic above shows, Arsenal inflicted Real Madrid’s third heaviest defeat across history in the Champions League knockout stages. Manchester City and Liverpool both secured 4-0 wins over Madrid while Arsenal joined Ajax and Borussia Dortmund by beating Madrid by a three-goal margin. Arsenal have one foot in the semi-final and Arteta will be dreaming of lifting the club’s first ever major European trophy in Munich.