Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League title defence has been brutally ended by Arsenal with major questions now rolling over Carlo Ancelotti’s future.
The 15-times European Cup/UCL winners needed something special in their quarterfinal second-leg clash with Mikel Arteta’s team in Madrid after losing the first clash 3-0.
Los Blancos were once again unable to raise their game to match Arsenal’s intensity at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu as goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a famous 2-1 win.
Arteta will now face his former side PSG in the semifinals with Real Madrid’s European dream over for 2024/25.
Ancelotti’s charges are still chasing a domestic double, via La Liga and the Copa del Rey, but the Italian’s position is under real pressure.
Defeat to Arteta means successive wins for Arsenal at the Bernabeu – with their previous win coming in a Thierry Henry-inspired 1-0 victory back in 2006 – and it continues a familiar UCL record for Real Madrid against English opposition.
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Despite their dominance of the competition in recent years, Ancelotti has struggled against Premier League teams, as part of a running theme.
In the last 11 seasons, starting from 2014/15, Real Madrid have won an incredible tally of five UCL trophies – with a proud record of winning every Champions League final they have reached.
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However, in the six seasons they have been eliminated in the knockout stages, four hammer blows have been handed out by EPL clubs – with Arsenal the latest name on the list.
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City eliminated Zinedine Zidane’s team in the 2019/20 Round of 16, before he repeated the trick against Ancelotti in the 2022/23 semifinals, and Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea beat them in the 2020/21 semifinals.