- Bukayo Saka missed a first-half penalty after his attempted chip was saved
- He was embroiled in a half-time row with Dani Carvajal during tense scenes
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Bukayo Saka was involved in a heated half-time row with Dani Carvajal during Arsenal‘s Champions League quarter-final victory over Real Madrid.
Saka saw an attempted Panenka penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois during the first half and was confronted by Madrid defender Carvajal as he walked off the pitch.
Carvajal, who was not named in Madrid’s matchday squad, followed Saka toward the tunnel before grabbing him on the back of the neck and pointing in his face.
The winger then swatted him away and as tensions threatened to boil over into a fracas, members of Arsenal’s backroom staff intervened to lead Saka away.
Several Spanish police officers, who had been walking past the front of the tunnel, were also quick on the scene with the incident quickly de-escalating.
Arsenal defender Ben White, clad in his substitutes’ bib, also steered Carvajal away.
Bukayo Saka was involved in a heated row with Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal
Carvajal followed Saka toward the tunnel at half-time before grabbing the back of his neck
Saka saw an attempted Panenka penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois during the early stages
Neither player was booked for their role in the flashpoint and Saka even appeared to react genially to Carvajal’s initial approach before pulling his hand away.
The subject of the terse confrontation is not known but social media users theorised Carvajal had used Saka’s penalty miss to attempt to get into his head.
The 33-year-old missed the return leg after suffering a cruciate ligament injury against Villarreal in October, bringing an early end to his season.
Madrid, looking to overturn a three-goal deficit, were aggressive from the off but conceded an early spot-kick after Raul Asensio dragged Mikel Merino to the ground.
Saka stepped up but his weak chip was palmed away by a diving Courtois.
However, the 23-year-old enjoyed the last laugh after clipping over the goalkeeper at the end of a flowing move to give Arsenal the lead – and a 4-0 aggregate advantage – in the second half.
Madrid threatened the unlikeliest of comebacks two minutes later when Saliba surrendered possession cheaply to Vinicius Junior, who swept beyond David Raya.
Arsenal secured a deserved victory on the night when Gabriel Martinelli was released in stoppage time and beat Courtois, confirming they will face PSG in the semi-finals.
