Myles Lewis-Skelly played a crucial part in helping Arsenal knock out Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final showdown with PSG.
The 17-year-old started both legs of the tie and was open about how challenging it was to play at the Bernabeu.
After Arsenal’s 2-1 win in Spain, which followed their dominant 3-0 victory in the first leg, Myles Lewis-Skelly shared how intense the experience was.
“It was incredible,” Lewis Skelly told TNT Sports. “When you see it [Bernabeu] on TV it is a lot different to what it is live. The fans don’t make it easy for us. As long as we stuck together and backed each other through the high and lows we would be fine.”
This win marks a huge moment for Arsenal—they’re into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009. Back then, Lewis Skelly was just two years old. Now, he’s a starting left-back, playing a key role in one of the club’s most important seasons in years.
Skelly made his senior debut earlier this season during a draw against Manchester City and has already racked up 30 appearances. Despite it being his first season with Mikel Arteta’s squad, he’s looked right at home on the big stage.
Against Real Madrid, Lewis Skelly played the full 90 minutes, completing 83% of his passes, clearing the ball five times, and winning 9 out of 11 defensive duels. His performance didn’t go unnoticed and proves just how quickly he’s becoming one of Arsenal’s most trusted players.
Looking ahead, Lewis Skelly is expected to feature again when Arsenal face PSG in the semi-finals in two weeks.
His teammate Declan Rice spoke about the upcoming challenge, saying, “Top team, played them once already. We feel like they’re a different team to back then. We’ve seen what they can do. But also we’ve seen what Villa done to them last night, causing them lots of problems.
Rice also praised the team’s mentality and highlighted how much faith the squad has in manager Mikel Arteta.
“Look we’ll be working hard. We now have to go to Ipswich on Sunday which is going to be a tough game because we want to keep going and keep winning matches in the Prem. And also like you said, focus on this competition.”
“It’s an historic night for this club. We have an objective in this competition – we want to play the best teams and win this competition. There was a lot of talk about them coming back because they’ve done it so many times before.
“But we had a belief and confidence that we’d win the game. We had it in our mind, and we did it in real life. What a night for the club. It’s been tough in the Premier League – we lost out by a point last year and this year it’s slipped away for us – but in this competition we’ve done amazingly well.
“We have full trust in this manager; he’s unbelievable. The semi-finals is massive for us. We just want to take tonight in, then it’s PSG who are an amazing team,” he told TNT Sports.
As Arsenal push forward in Europe, Lewis Skelly’s rise continues to be one of the standout stories of the season. From a debutant to a dependable name in the starting XI, his journey is just getting started—and the football world is taking notice.
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