Bukayo Saka shoves Real Madrid star in tunnel as Arsenal star's temper boils over | Football | Sport




Arsenal star Bukayo Saka shoved Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal during a tense exchange as the two sides headed for the Bernabeu dressing rooms at half time. Saka suffered a humiliating penalty miss early in the game, with his cheeky Panenka attempt easily saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Real Madrid then saw a penalty decision chalked off, with the referee overturning a foul given against Declan Rice on Kylian Mbappe. Going into the break goalless in the second leg, after building up a 3-0 aggregate lead in the first leg, Arsenal stars could still be forgiven for being on edge given Madrid's history of late Champions League turnarounds.

And Carvajal seemingly tried to play on that by getting a reaction from Saka during a frosty 10-second interaction. It initially appeared to be friendly, as Carvajal patted Saka on the face and the Arsenal winger leaned in to hear what he was saying.

But it quickly became tense as Carvajal grabbed Saka's hand to stop him walking off. When Saka broke free of Carvajal's grip, the Real Madrid man walked after him and put a hand on his neck, which prompted his Arsenal rival to lash out with a shove before they were separated by a crowd of coaches and security guards.

Saka remained composed for the second half as he latched onto Mikel Merino's pass and dinked a clever finish over Courtois in the 65th minute to put Arsenal 4-0 up on aggregate.

The 23-year-old spent months on the sidelines after rupturing his hamstring against Crystal Palace in December, and he proved to be a big miss for the Gunners.

Saka only returned to action at the start of the month, which gave him two matches to warm up before Real Madrid's visit to north London. Ahead of that game, Arsenal wonderkid Myles Lewis-Skelly talked up the importance of having him back in the side.

"You can tell how important he is to the fans and the players," he said. "To have him back with the team is a big boost for us. He helps us a lot. He has a presence about him, he knows what he is doing, he has belief in himself, and when he has the ball at his feet he creates magic.

"Obviously, Real Madrid are a great team and they have the most victories in the Champions League. We respect them, but we don't fear any team. We have just got to stay together and if we control everything we can control, I am sure we will be fine."



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Posted: 2025-04-17 00:48:16

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