Arsenal will take a 3-0 lead to Real Madrid for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie after an incredible night of football at the Emirates Stadium. Going into the showdown against the Spanish giants, made changes to his team that drew 1-1 with Everton at Goodison Park last Saturday.

The Spaniard made five alterations in total, with , Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli all coming in for the Champions League showdown. Partey did in fact have a good opening to give Arsenal the lead inside the first 15 minutes but his effort from the edge of the area was kept out by Thibaut Courtois.

Los Blancos had a big chance to take the lead on 31 minutes but . At the other end of the pitch, Courtois frustrated the hosts just before half-time with a fine double save to stop Declan Rice and Martinelli from giving the Gunners a half-time lead.

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Arsenal did take a deserved lead on 58 minutes with Rice scoring a sublime free-kick from 25-yards that left Courtois with no chance after hitting the ball with such ferocity as it curled inside the post The hosts were so close to doubling their lead shortly after as Martinelli and two efforts from Mikel Merino almost found a way into the net.

The misses didn't prove costly, though, as Rice scored a second outrageous free-kick to spark wild scenes inside the Emirates and Merino added one for himself with a curling effort that found the bottom corner. Here are five things we spotted in the game in north London:

There was to be no place in the Arsenal starting XI for against Real Madrid.

The 27-year-old was selected in the Arsenal side for Saturday's draw at Everton and played 61 minutes of the contest before he was replaced by Timber. , Arteta provided a fitness update on the defender.

"Yeah, looks like it," he said when asked if everyone is available. "We have another training session this afternoon, but Ben finished the game. We had to stop him over time because he hasn't played much football, but he was fine after the game. And with the rest, they went through the game and they were able to do some bits yesterday and ready to train today."

Unfortunately, White was not given the nod to face Los Blancos as Timber came in and Jakub Kiwior kept his place in the side. The Poole-born player may not have started this time but he may well come in at the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday as he will likely boost his fitness levels against Brentford on Saturday evening.

Arteta and Arsenal have a very special player on their hands in . Nothing fazes the 18-year-old, not even coming up against the might of Carlo Ancelotti's eye-catching Real Madrid team.

As he has done since breaking into the team, the academy graduate continued to wow in his left-back berth and every single time he came inside to operate. The game against Real saw Lewis-Skelly come face-to-face with Luka Modric, a player who made his first appearance at the Emirates Stadium back in August 2006 at a time when the Arsenal ace wasn't even born.

Lewis-Skelly's numbers from the first half were even better than the midfield maestro's as he had 44 touches to Modric's 31 and he completed 33 passes for a pass accuracy of 94% compared to Modric's 88% from his 30 completed passes.

He continued to wow in the second half and demonstrate that he has such a bright future ahead of him. Now it's time for him to do it once again in Madrid next week.

Arsenal's lack of a striker is well documented. .

One moment in the first half highlighted Arsenal's need for a front man as Saka fizzed such an inviting cross across the face of goal but unfortunately nobody was there to gamble. Rice and Merino were unfortunately both on the edge of the six-yard box as the ball flew across goal waiting to be tapped in.

It may well have been 1-0 to Arsenal had Arteta had a natural striker in his team with the nous to get into the right position to convert It didn't matter too much in the end, however, as the Gunners had no problem finding the back of the net in the second half.

may well have Arsenal's goal of the season award in the bag right now after his free-kick masterclass against Real Madrid. However, it may be a difficult choice to decipher whether his first or second effort was better.

Many may opt for his second free-kick as it flew into the top corner of Courtois' net like a rocket. It was the definition of top corner and no goalkeeper in the world would have saved it.

Arsenal captain was in complete shock as the ball arrowed into the net and he could be seen putting his hands on the back of his head as he leant back in disbelief. Arsenal substitute also produced a similar reaction as he ran on to the pitch with both hands on his head as Rice and Co. sprinted off to the corner to celebrate.

It was no surprise his teammates reacted like that as it was such a good strike and one he may struggle to top over the course of the career.

It was quite unusual not to see Real Madrid in their traditional white strip for the Champions League encounter against Arsenal. Instead, Ancelotti's side were decked out in their charcoal third kit.

The Gunners' current adidas home shirt features a lot more white than usual and that meant Real Madrid were unable to play in their home shirt. It's not the first time we have seen this happen during the 2024/25 campaign as Tottenham were forced to play the North London Derby at the Emirates in their change strip and that very rarely happens in the fixture with the clubs usually wearing their iconic colours.

The kit clash does mean that the Gunners will either have to wear their away or third kit in Madrid next week. Arsenal did win at the Santiago Bernabeu in their change kit back in 2006 and all will be hoping that history repeats itself.