Arteta wanted to ‘slap’ Arsenal star and reveals ’emotional concern’ vs Real Madrid
Mikel Arteta joked that he wanted to “slap” one of his Arsenal stars during their win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, while Bukayo Saka has vowed to “learn” from his penalty miss.
The Gunners took a 3-0 lead to the Bernabeu and left with a 5-1 aggregate win after goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli secured victory in both games.
Saka had missed a penalty in the first half as his awful panenka was saved by Thibaut Courtois, before Real Madrid saw a spot-kick overturned following a five-minute VAR check.
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But Saka made up for his error just after the hour mark, dinking Mikel Merino’s through ball over Courtois, before Vinicius Junior pounced on a William Saliba error to give the hosts false hope.
Mikel Arteta’s side looked comfortable throughout and Martinelli put gloss on the performance by winning the game in injury time as he dashed in behind the Real Madrid from the halfway line before slotting the ball past Courtois.
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Speaking to TNT Sports after the match about his missed penalty and ultimate redemption, Saka said: “It can happen. I tried something and it didn’t work, but I was confident I was going to score tonight and I kept my head and I managed to do it in the second half.
“I learn in every moment. Obviously, I’ll learn from it and move forward, but tonight I’m more focused on enjoying the win and maybe tomorrow or next week I’ll review it properly.”
Saka insists he and his teammates “felt comfortable” on the biggest stage.
“I’m very, very proud of this team,” Saka added.
“We showed that we can play in Europe and beat one of the best teams in the world home and away, so tonight was a big statement, and I’m so happy for everyone.
“We felt comfortable. We’re quite good when we get into a low block and we showed that again tonight, so I’m proud of everyone.
“It did take a lot of hard work, a lot of running, but we managed to do it.”
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In Arteta’s press conference after the game, a reporter asked in Spanish: “What came to your mind when Saka missed that penalty kick in the beginning of the game? Did you want to tell him off? Did you want to die? What did you want to do?”
The Arsenal manager replied: “Well, I wouldn’t like to die but maybe I would like to slap him (laughs).
“No, the player has to make the decision of doing what he thinks is the best thing to do. He made that decision, he was bold enough to do it, he missed.
“I was more concerned about the emotional part, what it could mean for us. In the end, the other penalty that wasn’t a penalty kick later on – something was created that wasn’t good for us.”
