Arsenal defender William Saliba Photo: photosport
Arsenal snuffed out any chance of a famous Real Madrid comeback to reach the Champions League semi-finals after a 2-1 victory in the Bernabeu Stadium completed a 5-1 aggregate win.
Holders and 15-times winners Real never looked like clawing back a 3-0 deficit from last week's quarter-final first leg and when Bukayo Saka scored for the visitors in the 65th minute their fate was effectively sealed.
Vinicius Junior seized on a rare defensive slip a couple of minutes later to rouse the home crowd, but it proved too little too late as Carlo Ancelotti's side exited in feeble fashion.
Arsenal's superiority over the two legs was underlined in stoppage time as Gabriel Martinelli burst through to score.
They will face Paris St Germain in their first Champions League semi-final since 2009.
"I think it's such a special night for this club, it's a historic night for this club," said Arsenal's Declan Rice, whose two sublime free kicks last week put his side in control.
"There was a lot of talk coming in about them coming back from the dead, they've done it so many times before. But we had so much belief and confidence from that first leg that we had enough to come here and win the game."
A cacophony of noise greeted kickoff with the home fans fuelled by the hope of witnessing what would have been one of the greatest Champions League comebacks.
Penalty miss
They were silenced almost immediately though as Arsenal were handed the opportunity to kill the tie when Raul Asencio needlessly hauled down Mikel Merino from a corner and referee Francois Letexier eventually awarded a penalty after checking a pitch-side VAR monitor.
Bukayo Saka of Arsenal Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Saka opted for a Panenka-style chipped penalty though and Real keeper Thibaut Courtois clawed away the ball.
It looked like a potentially pivotal moment and when Letexier pointed to the penalty spot at the other end after Kylian Mbappe tumbled under minimal contact from Declan Rice, Arsenal's night looked like taking a turn for the worse.
After five painstaking minutes, however, Letexier was again invited by VAR to view the monitor and to a chorus of whistles from the home fans, overturned his original decision.
That scare aside, Arsenal coped easily with Real Madrid's famed frontline who were given little to work with.
Arsenal keeper David Raya was not required to make a save before halftime as Real's predilection for hopeful crosses into the area proved easy pickings for the visiting defence.
Real's Mbappe barely had a sniff of a chance as Arsenal showed great control and Saka made up for his first-half miss with a clinical finish after being sent clear.
William Saliba gifted Real a lifeline when he was caught in possession on the edge of his area, allowing Vinicius to score, but there was never any sense of panic in the visiting ranks.
Martinelli then put the icing on the cake in added time, to send the Arsenal fans into raptures.
Inter reach semis
Inter Milan also reached the semi-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich after an enthralling 2-2 draw in their second leg at the San Siro.
Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martínez Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Italians will face Barcelona next, who they defeated at the semi-final stage in 2010 before going on to beat Bayern in the final to complete the treble, and Simone Inzaghi's side are still on course to repeat that feat this season.
It was a far from comfortable evening for Inter, but they did just enough in a pulsating clash between the top teams from Serie A and the Bundesliga.
Bayern, who lost the first leg 2-1, were the more aggressive side from the off, with Yann Sommer saving a shot on the turn from Thomas Mueller early on.
A mistake by Nicolo Barella allowed Mueller to steal possession and play a pass into Michael Olise but Alessandro Bastoni nicked the ball off his toe before he could get a shot away.
Inter came close with a Hakan Calhanoglu curled shot from distance but then needed some desperate defending after Konrad Laimer's pullback from the byline.
Matteo Darmian blocked down Mueller's shot and Sommer saved Leroy Sane's rebound effort, and the side's went in goalless at the break.
Bayern's first attack of the second half led to Harry Kane netting his 11th goal of this season's competition.
Leon Goretzka played the ball into Kane who took his time before teeing up a shot from a wide angle which he sent through the legs of Dimarco and into the far corner.
Bayern's joy lasted all of six minutes, as Lautaro Martinez scored from a corner kick. His first headed effort came back off Joshua Kimmich and the Inter striker made no mistake with his shot from the rebound.
Inter went in search of a goal to kill off Bayern and found it within three minutes. Darmian had a shot cleared off the line by Eric Dier and from the resulting corner Benjamin Pavard powered a header past Jonas Urbig.
Bayern, however, refused to give in, and after a short corner, Serge Gnabry floated a ball into the box and Dier's attempt at a headed cross from the byline ended up finding the net.
With 14 minutes still remaining, a nervy ending was guaranteed. Sommer made a diving save from Mueller deep into added time and the hosts held on and for the first time the Germans failed to win away to Inter, and exited the competition.
- Reuters
