Gunners winger has also explained his goal celebration that evoked memories of Thierry Henry’s heroics at the Bernabeu
 |
| ARSENAL HERO: BUKAYO SAKA WAS ONE OF THE STARS OF THE SHOW AS THE GUNNERS BEAT REAL MADRID AGAIN AT THE BERNABEU |
Bukayo Saka has revealed that he spoke to Thierry Henry on the morning of Arsenal’s latest famous victory over Real Madrid, but insists he did not deliberately evoke his famous Bernabeu goal celebration.
Saka set the Gunners on their way to a second successive victory over the current Champions League holders on Wednesday evening, atoning for his early Panenka penalty attempt that was easily saved by Thibaut Courtois as he executed a brilliant lofted finish to put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead on the night and stretch their commanding aggregate lead in the quarter-final tie.
Arsenal eventually won 2-1 in Spain after Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time effort that followed Vinicius Jr quickly responding to Saka’s opener after a blunder from William Saliba, completing an emphatic 5-1 victory overall after Declan Rice had produced two stunning free-kicks to inspire an initial 3-0 first-leg success at the Emirates Stadium last week.
Paris Saint-Germain now stand between them and a place in the Champions League final at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on May 31, after the reigning French champions just snuck past Aston Villa on Tuesday night despite a rousing second-half fightback that saw Unai Emery’s men win 3-2 on the night but go down 5-4 on aggregate.
Barcelona meet Inter Milan in the other semi-final tie after their respective wins over German giants Borussia Dortmund and Bayern.
Saka was once again one of Arsenal’s star performers against Madrid as he made up for his missed penalty with a superb goal and afterwards revealed that he had spoken to club icon Henry ahead of the game.
Asked on CBS Sports if he planned a post-match FaceTime with the French legend - part of the interview as a pundit - Saka said: "100 per cent. I spoke to him this morning already but if he wants to speak again later, I'm going to be up. I'm not going to sleep tonight, let's be real."
Arsenal are the first English team ever to win twice at the Bernabeu, having become the first ever to do it in the Champions League back in the last 16 of the 2005/06 season, when Henry’s second-half goal sealed a 1-0 first-leg victory in Madrid.
A goalless second-leg draw at Highbury then sent the Gunners through and they later beat Juventus and Villarreal before losing in agonising fashion to Barcelona in their first and only Champions League final appearance to date in Paris.
Saka’s “shushing” reaction after scoring on Wednesday was the same as Henry produced at the Bernabeu 19 years ago, with the England winger posting pictures of the two celebrations side-by-side on Instagram after the game.
And while he certainly appreciated the symmetry, Saka insisted he did not deliberately replicate Henry after his own memorable moment at one of European football’s most iconic venues.
"To be fair, not really,” he said. “I just wanted to have my own moment, but of course Thierry has done the same here and it's nice that we can share this picture. It's nice."
- ADAM DAVY/PA WIRE
