Real Madrid vs. Arsenal penalty controversy: First-half chaos reigns with penalty, VAR overturn and Saka miss

Arsenal received a dream scenario to put their Champions League stumps with Real Madrid out of reach, but Bukayo Saka could not take his chance and tried to see the legendary keeper Thibaut Courtois and his penalty save. Arsenal entered the second stage of the Champions League Quarter Finals with a 3-0 lead on aggregated, something they would feel good about, given that they have not admitted three or more goals since December 2023 and have not lost with three goals since May 2023.

The Gunners were given the opportunity to continue after a VAR review in the 10th minute of the game. Real Madrid Center Back Raul Asencio grabbed Arsenal’s Mikel Merino in the penalty box. One handle seemed to have been allowed, but his second led to the penalty that Saka took after Martin Odegaard had shielded the ball.

For Arsenal, Saka has been an excellent penalty tone that scored 13 and only missed one, but at the biggest moment he decided to go for the chip, which Courtois easily saved. It is his biggest miss since the final shootout of 2020 euros when England lost to Italy. He made a shootout fine for England in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals against Switzerland, but these moments are great.

Minutes later Real Madrid started to insist on a goal and almost got its own penalty. Declan Rice received a yellow card for the pollution of Kylian Mbappe in the box, but after a long VAR assessment it was assessed not to be a mistake, with the yellow card and the penalty being withdrawn. Rice would be hung for the next UCL match of Arsenal if he picks up a yellow and Arsenal preface, a possibility that increases with every moment that Madrid does not score.

This game is already being played on the edge of a razor and there is still a lot of football more to be played to determine who will be confronted with Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final and will start on 28 April.