As the 2025 Championships kick off, Pacific island nations continue to defy the odds — proving that population size is no barrier to producing world-class sport, writes JAMES NALTON
Saka and Martinelli goals enough for the Gunners to defeat Real Madrid

Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (1-5 on aggregate)
by Layth Yousif
at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
SECOND-HALF goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabi Martinelli were enough to achieve the result Arsenal required to visit Paris in the spring, as Mikel Arteta’s magnificent side beat Real Madrid 2-1 to reach the last four of the Champions League, where they will now play PSG.
For when it came down to it, the Spanish aristocrats failed to achieve their much-spoken about “remontada” (comeback), amid, it has to be said, the flailing noise around their utterly self-inflated opinion of their underwhelming team.
Similar stories

Bournemouth merited their triumph over Mikel Arteta’s underwhelming Gunners who had one eye very much on their crucial Champions League clash v PSG

Two goal hero Declan Rice has been praised by Gunners manager Mikel Arteta after the game of his life