LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 26: Sheila Garcia of Real Madrid looks dejected after the team's defeat and being eliminated from the UEFA Women's Champions League after the UEFA Women's Champions League Quarter Finals Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Real Madrid CF at Emirates Stadium on March 26, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Alessia Russo’s ruthless finishing and Mariona Caldentey’s orchestration left the Spanish media with little to console themselves as Arsenal eviscerated Real Madrid in a 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.
Spanish outlets, many of which had talked up Madrid’s hopes of reaching their first UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final, turned on their side with harsh realism after what Marca described as a performance that was “overwhelmed in all facets.”
“El cañón Russo mata al Madrid,” read the front of AS. “The Russo cannon kills Madrid.”
In a vivid match report, the paper said: “So Arsenal destroyed Real Madrid’s defence and, along with it, their dream of playing their first Champions League semi-final. It was thanks to a double from Russo, in gunslinger mode, and her ally Mariona.”
The Russo cannon kills Madrid A double by the Englishwoman and another goal by Mariona end White's semi-final dream AS27 Mar 2025 Russo, with an acrobatic finish after a foul launched by McCabe, beat Misa to put Arsenal 3-0 up. Rush cannonade. That's how Arsenal destroyed the defense and, by the way, Real Madrid's dream of playing the first Champions League semifinal in their history. He did it thanks to a double by Russo, in gunslinger mode, and his ally Mariona. The Englishwoman scored a double and the Balearic scored another goal to put White's 2-0 away at nothing in the first leg. The atmosphere of a big match in North London could be felt as soon as you set foot on its streets and Madrid noticed it on their legs since the Emirates sang The Angel in chorus. Olga started losing the ball near the starting area and Lakrar had to emerge to cut off every ball that was around her domains. Because Arsenal had come out as if the song La vida cañón had arrived in the English capital and its players had been listening to it for six hours straight. McCabe was a nuisance on the left and Kelly wanted to do mischief on the right, but the one who warned first was Mariona. The Balearic, who played in a more delayed position than usual, shot to the top of the goal from a corner taken by Maanum in the 10’. Mariona has a lot of football and Slegers put her to build it on a special night, although that meant losing her incidence in final meters. There she appeared at quarter of an hour to control a Foord delivery in an impossible way and center a ball from the baseline on an occasion on which none of her teammates trusted.
The Russo cannon kills Madrid – AS
The sense of inevitable collapse ran through most of the coverage.
Mundo Deportivo noted: “A hard blow for Real Madrid, who were left at the gates of making history… Arsenal dominated the entire match.”
They credited the English side’s dominance in the second half, where they delivered “13 descomunales minutos,” or “13 tremendous minutes,” to erase the 2-0 deficit from the first leg. “The tie was gone,” it concluded, once Russo scored her second and Arsenal’s third.
Real Madrid wakes up from their European dream ➔ A brace from Russo and a goal from Mariona made it 2-0 back from the first leg and Arsenal will face Lyon in the semis Mundo Deportivo (Gipuzkoa)27 Mar 2025 PHOTO: GETTY Imperial Mariona Caldentey The Mallorcan led Arsenal to the semi-finals ➔ A hard blow for Real Madrid, who were on the verge of making history and standing in their first Champions League semifinals by conceding a severe 3-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Las Blancas failed to make use of their two rental goals in the first leg to submit to a superior English team, which dominated the entire match, with two goals from Alessia Russo and one from Mariona Caldentey and that could have even been more. Alberto Toril's team arrived with morale sky high after their 1-3 to Barça in the League, but they found themselves with an English team that despite not being effective in the first half was lethal in the second in 13 huge minutes, from 46’ to 59’. Arsenal will face Olympique Lyon, eight-time Champions League champions, who in turn eliminated Bayern Munich, in the semi-finals. Toril took out his gala eleven, with four changes regarding the team who won against Barça: Sheila García, Olga, Linda Caicedo, Weir and Bruun entered for Antonia, Yasmim, Moller and Alba Redondo. He started the Arsenal pressing and looking for Mariona insistently. The Madridistas barely left their field and the English team showed off with a more combinative game, very different from the first leg match at the Di Stéfano. After enduring the siege of the first half, the goals came in the second. In the 46’ came the first English goal in a shot from Alessia Russo, very successful in sneaking in between Athenea and Sheila. Mariona equalized in the 49th minute on a Kelly cross from the wing that finished off the Mallorcan with a powerful header from inside the area that escaped Misa and the ball ended up sneaking in. Before the 60th minute, Russo solved a dead ball inside the box and confirmed that the tie had gone to waste for the white team. There were still two goals cancelled out to Russo and one chance in the 93rd from Linda Caicedo
Real Madrid wakes up from their European dream – Mundo Deportivo
La Voz de Galicia was succinct: “Arsenal ended Real Madrid’s dream.” The Gunners were described as “superior,” and their win termed a “goleada” – a drubbing.
The most detailed dissection came from Marca, which carried the grim headline: “El Arsenal torna el sueño en pesadilla” – “Arsenal turns the dream into a nightmare.”
Arsenal turn a dream into a nightmare MADRID ARE ELIMINATED IN THE QUARTERS AFTER LOSING IN LONDON The 'gunners' recover the 2-0 of the first leg against an unrecognizable white team that was outplayed in all facets * Russo's 'Double’ and Mariona's goal Marca Aragón27 Mar 2025 EFE Sandie Toletti (29) and María Méndez (23), with a downcast face after conceding a goal at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal. Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League by losing to Arsenal (3-0) at the Emirates Stadium. The goals of Russo (2) and Mariona turned around the income that the Spanish team had from the first leg. The first act was a Real Madrid resistance exercise. Arsenal, led by an omnipresent Mariona, tied down the white team with a high intensity, a high pressure and a mobility of their players that almost always gave them numerical superiority, but they were not on target facing the goal. But everything that didn't go in the first half did in the second. Arsenal needed just 169 seconds to level the tie. Two calculated plays, started by the right side of the gunner attack and with Kelly as an assistant. The first cross was finished off by Russo, getting ahead of Lakrar, and the second by Mariona, heading alone, free and unmarked. Real Madrid were unable to find a solution to their problems. Not on the field or from the bench. And so the third arrived before the hour of action was up on a hung ball to the area that Lakrar cleared in the first instance, but Russo was attentive to hunt down the reject and beat Misa again. Russo scored again with 20 minutes to go, again after a cross from the right hand this time from Maanum, who was offside as indicated by the VAR at the time of canceling the goal. Toril was slow to stir up the hornet's nest and made no changes until the 77th minute. And despite that he barely had a chance in Caicedo's boots, already in the add-on, to get back into the match. Real Madrid is saying goodbye to Europe with a bitter taste and a harsh punishment.
Arsenal turn a dream into a nightmare – Marca
David Menayo wrote: “Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League after losing to Arsenal (3-0) at the Emirates Stadium. Goals from Russo (2) and Mariona overturned the Spanish side’s lead from the first leg.”
He continued: “The first half was an exercise in resistance for Real Madrid… but everything that didn’t go in during the first half, did in the second.”
Marca praised Arsenal’s intensity, their “high pressing” and superiority in every area of the pitch.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 26: Sheila Garcia of Real Madrid looks dejected after the team's defeat and being eliminated from the UEFA Women's Champions League after the UEFA Women's Champions League Quarter Finals Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Real Madrid CF at Emirates Stadium on March 26, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Madrid, Menayo noted, “were unable to find a solution… not on the pitch, not from the bench.”
The Real Madrid manager’s hesitation to make changes came under direct criticism: “He didn’t make a substitution until the 77th minute.”
Russo’s second disallowed goal and a late Linda Caicedo chance were footnotes in what the paper called “a bitter farewell and harsh punishment.”
For Spain’s media, the verdict was unanimous: Arsenal were dominant, ruthless, and relentless. The story was not one of near-miss heartbreak for Madrid, but of a brutal and decisive defeat at the hands of a better-drilled side with a clearer identity and far sharper edge.
In North London, the Champions League dream lives on. In Madrid, it was left in ruins.
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