Bukayo Saka's stunning chip knocks the belief out of the Bernabeu: UCL MOTW

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The save should have sunk them, sunk him. Bukayo Saka had walked up to the penalty spot in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, looked Thibaut Courtois in the eye and chipped a penalty straight into the big keeper's hands. Missing a penalty in the Bernabeu in a Champions League knockout second leg: that's as big a no-no as you'll ever get in European football.

Arsenal may have had a 3-0 lead from the first leg, but these are the kind of nights that Real Madrid have used to build their own legend, an aura so awesome that teams often lose before they even set foot on the Bernabeu pitch. To get an opportunity and do nothing about it is bad, to force an action that has the potential to feed that mysterious Madrid energy is even worse -- and Saka had done both, just ten minutes in.

So, even though it was fifty-five minutes later when Mikel Merino cleverly played him in one-on-one with Courtois, you would have understood if he had fluffed his lines, if he had nervously snatched at it. The move that led up to Merino's pass had been one straight out of the prime Wenger years playbook, Saka starting it all, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice involved before Merino slipped in Saka down the middle. Madrid may not have done anything to alarm the Arsenal defence, but this was the Bernabeu, this was a Champions League knockout night, and this was Arsenal, defeatism in club form for so many years, masters at imploding when they're within touching distance of glory -- the pressure would have been off the charts. With the massive frame of one of the world's best goalkeepers advancing on him and all that tension heavy in the air... Saka went for the chip.

Aura, schmaura.

Arsenal with and without Bukayo Saka are two entirely different teams. There's a magnificent disregard for reputation and on-paper-superiority that Saka brings to the table that no one else comes close to replicating. Last week, in the first leg, Rice may have been the star on the night, but Saka had been the flash paper. On Wednesday night in Madrid too, he played with the carefree abandon of a talented player who knows exactly how good he is.

(Photo by MB Media/Getty Images)

When that second golden chance came, you knew what he was going to do. So what if he had missed a cheeky attempt earlier? What if he was playing on a stage that had weakened the resolve of many a great player before him? What if it was Real Madrid? Bukayo Saka doesn't care. Bukayo Saka will chip you again.

As the ball looped over Courtois in glorious IMAX slow-motion, Saka broke into a smile. He knew, we knew, Madrid knew... this was over. They may have got a goal back from a William Saliba error, but Arsenal never looked like conceding more (or in any way other than an error of their own). The home side were outrun, out passed, out classed. The tie had been done and dusted long before Martinelli made it 2-1 for Arsenal on the night in injury time from a superbly executed counterattack.

In fact, it had been decided the moment Saka stared the Madrid myth in its face... and laughed. And for that, Bukayo Saka takes our Moment of the UCL mid-week.

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