Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka channels Thierry Henry with ‘remontada’ in Champions League triumph over Real Madrid | Football News

Real Madrid did everything they could to unsettle Bukayo Saka.

An early reducer from David Alaba set the tone. A shoulder barge from Antonio Rudiger followed his missed penalty. There were even intimidatory words in his ear from Dani Carvajal as the players went into the tunnel at half-time. None of it worked.

In the end, the defining image of a famous Arsenal triumph at the Bernabeu, another one, was that of Saka celebrating his opening goal in the same style as Thierry Henry 19 years earlier, with a finger to his lips having silenced the Real Madrid noise.

The hosts had tried to manifest another ‘remontada’. The messaging, from all angles, had been relentless.

On Thursday morning, though, the Madrid newspapers, whose front pages touted their chances a day earlier, were lauding the fearlessness of their opponents.

It was summed up by Saka.

Carlo Ancelotti had asked his players to play with their “heads, hearts and cojones” in his pre-match press conference. But it was Arsenal, and their talismanic No 7, who demonstrated those qualities, a young side coming of age against European royalty.

Arsenal had of course shown their superiority, as a collective, in the first leg, scoring three goals and seizing control of the tie. But the bigger test was still to come. “Ninety minutes is a long time at the Bernabeu,” they say. Arsenal flipped the narrative.

It was Real Madrid who suffered.

It could, of course, have gone differently after Saka’s ‘Panenka’ penalty was palmed away by Thibaut Courtois in the 11th minute. “That could have been a turning point emotionally in the game because it gives them a lot of belief,” acknowledged Mikel Arteta after the game.

But Saka had already demonstrated his resilience at that point, flashing a shot narrowly wide within a minute of the crunching challenge by Alaba that earned the defender a booking. Two minutes after that, Saka was running at him again, cutting inside and this time forcing a diving save from Courtois.

Another player would have retreated into themselves after the penalty miss, which prompted the loudest roar of the night from the expectant home fans. But Saka’s focus was unwavering.

“The way he handled the situation, the way he played afterwards, and the personality that he showed at his age, on his first time playing in this stadium, is incredible,” added Arteta.

By the time the players went down the tunnel for half-time, and Carvajal made his forlorn attempt to rattle Saka, the belief had been sucked out of the stadium.

Even the equaliser that followed Saka’s brilliantly-taken opener, lifted over Courtois in the intended style of his penalty, could not bring it back. Real Madrid, 15-time winners of this competition, with all that history behind them, had been brought to their knees.

Arsenal’s cohesion, discipline and organisation was too much. And Saka’s display, along with those of several of his team-mates, the brilliant Declan Rice among them, was a reminder that Arteta’s side have individual quality to rival opponents of this level too.

Saka showed, again, that he has the self-belief to match his talent.

He had been asked before the first leg about one day winning the Ballon d’Or and how far away he is from the level of Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe. “I don’t want to sit here and say they are the level above me, because that’s not the way I think,” he replied.

Certainly, his record in this competition puts him in that tier. Across his two campaigns in the Champions League, Saka now has nine goals and six assists in only 16 appearances.

It is a combined total bettered by only Mbappe, Serhou Guirassy, Vinicius Jr, Raphinha and Harry Kane, most of whom have played considerably more games in the same timeframe.

The numbers highlight Saka’s ability to rise to the big occasions.

“He stepped up,” said Arteta at the Bernabeu. It should be noted, too, that his latest efforts have come straight off the back of a serious hamstring injury, and that he was decisive even in the first leg, on his first start in four months, tormenting Alaba and winning both of the free-kicks for Rice’s goals.

Saka had more shots, with four, and more touches in the opposition box, with five, than any other Arsenal player at the Bernabeu but, crucially, he also showed qualities that typify this Arsenal side.

When he was not pushing Real Madrid backwards from the right flank, he was tracking back himself, helping his full-back Jurrien Timber contain Vinicius Jr; intercepting, clearing, harrying.

Ancelotti had been asked before the game about the lack of off-the-ball running from his attacking superstars in the first leg. It is never an issue for his Arsenal counterpart. Saka is Arteta’s attacking leader but he is also one of his hardest workers. The same goes for Gabriel Martinelli on the opposite wing.

It was Martinelli who produced the crowning moment of Arsenal’s night, dispatching the winner coolly following a scintillating break.

But the much talked-about remontada came from Saka, the 23-year-old channelling an Arsenal great in Henry, and now hoping to drive this thrilling new generation all the way to the trophy.