Arsenal prove they can win the Champions League with Madrid victory

Arsenal progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, securing a 5-1 victory on aggregate.

Bukayo Saka made amends for a first half penalty miss with a neat lobbed finish over Thibaut Courtois but Vinicius Jr pounced on a William Saliba mistake minutes later to give Madrid a lifeline. With the clock ticking down, Gabriel Martinelli secured the win on the night in stoppage time when he rushed in on goal and fired past Courtois.

Over the two legs, the Gunners dominated Madrid, causing plenty of problems for their backline while seeing out most attacks with some outstanding defending. Mikel Arteta's side made light work of the competition holders and in doing so, have proven they can genuinely win the Champions League.

Arsenal prove they can win the Champions League with Madrid victory

Opta's supercomputer has listed Arsenal as the favourites to go on and win the Champions League with a probability of 28.7%, and while that is only a projection, their performances against Real Madrid showed they could very well do it.

Heading into the first leg, a lot of people had already written the Gunners' chances off, citing Madrid's brilliance as being too much for them to handle. However, they upset the odds and thanks to two moments of free-kick magic from Declan Rice and a Mikel Merino goal, Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 victory at Emirates Stadium.

That made them heavy favourites to progress to the semi-finals but with a trip to the intimidating Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg, many felt Madrid had the facilities to mount a historical comeback.

Instead, Arsenal came away from Madrid with a 2-1 win following a brilliant performance that kept out much of the hosts' pressure for the entire 90 minutes. A stoppage time counter-attack and resulting run from Gabriel Martinelli sealed the victory on the night and showed that his side weren't just going to play out the second leg pinned back in their own half.

Madrid had even gone to the lengths of closing the Bernabeu's roof as a way of increasing the atmosphere in the crowds but even that didn't intimidate Mikel Arteta's side. They played so calmly throughout and didn't let the chanting of the Madridistas or the determination of Carlo Ancelotti's team break them down.

Some will argue that this Madrid side isn't at its strongest but they are still the holders of the competition and did put up a fight against Arsenal. It was just dealt with so brilliantly by the latter.

With their win over Los Blancos, Arsenal showed that they can beat anyone when at their best. The Gunners dismantled one of the best teams in Europe with ease over two legs and there is nothing to say they can't do that in future games.

Not only did they perform so well, but they also dealt with the intimidation and atmosphere they faced in Madrid in a very mature and professional manner and didn't let it prevent them playing the football they wanted to.

PSG await Arsenal in the semi-finals and they will certainly prove to be another tough test, but if Arteta's side can perform anywhere near as good as they did against Madrid, no one would be surprised if they make the final. The Gunners would meet one of Inter Milan or Barcelona at the final hurdle but will no doubt fancy themselves against either side.

Arsenal have no doubt proved they can go on and win the Champions League with their victory over Real Madrid. Their brilliant approach that tore apart the holders is a testament to the brilliant football they can play while their outstanding ways of dealing with playing in an intimidating atmosphere showed how maturely they can perform under pressure. When on top form on the continental stage, the Gunners do look like they could beat anyone who stands in their way.

READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS HERE!