The match in London, the first of two, was long tight and lacked hot scoring opportunities.
Despite having a plethora of attacking stars on the pitch – not least with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka back in the starting lineup after injury – it was 0–0 at halftime.
The closest to finding the net was the home team through a header from Declan Rice just before halftime. But Thibaut Courtois in the Real goal made a fine save – and also cleared the rebound.
Rice, however, would get his revenge.
A little over 13 minutes into the second half, the London team was awarded a free kick a good distance outside the penalty area. A free kick that the English national team player beautifully curled in behind a helpless Real goalkeeper.
Arsenal took the lead – but Rice was not done yet.
In the 70th minute, the next free kick came for Arsenal. And in the same way as the first goal, he curled it in behind Courtois – this time right into the top corner with a delicate touch.
Five minutes later, Mikel Merino set the final score at 3–0 and the London team now has a firm grip on the semifinal spot.
A damper on the joy, however, was that Saka was substituted out seemingly injured. And even Rice limped off shortly thereafter.
For Real Madrid, the misery continued when Eduardo Camavinga was sent off with a red card just before the final whistle.
In the parallel quarterfinal between Bayern Munich and Inter, the Milan club would take command with a 2–1 win – after a late winning goal from Davide Frattesi.
The return matches will be played on Wednesday next week.
