Alessia Russo humorously claims that her hat-trick was spoiled by VAR, while Karen Carney commends the ‘fantastic’ Arsenal player following their victory against Real Madrid.

Player of the match Alessia Russo was in high spirits after VAR denied her a first-ever hat-trick for Arsenal in The Gunners’ impressive 3-0 victory over Real Madrid.

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, Renee Slegers’ side faced frustration from the visitors in the first half. However, a remarkable turnaround saw three goals in just 13 minutes, including a brace from Russo, complete a memorable 3-2 aggregate comeback.

The 26-year-old had two additional strikes ruled out for offside by VAR, but Arsenal’s dominant performance against the two-time UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finalists was undeniable. Russo reflected on her near-hat-trick, stating, “VAR ruined that one,” with a laugh. “But no, I mean I should have scored a third anyway without the two offsides, but I’ll look back and go again. But tonight, we’re going to enjoy the night.”

Russo described the experience as “amazing,” adding, “It still feels a bit surreal right now, not really let it sink in yet. But we’ve had a lot of belief all week. We knew what we wanted to do. We knew what we’re capable of as a team and we’ve done that tonight.”

Mariona Caldentey also found the net for Arsenal, capitalising on a superb delivery from Chloe Kelly, who assisted Russo’s opener less than a minute after the interval.

While the match showcased a tremendous team performance from the hosts, TNT Sports expert Karen Carney expressed sympathy for Russo’s VAR frustrations following her “brilliant” display. “We always want so many things in the women’s game: goal-line technology, VAR. That was probably the one night Alessia Russo’s thinking, ‘cheers for that, guys. I don’t want it. I wanted my hat-trick!’ But she was brilliant. The second half, there was no snobbery about Arsenal’s game. It was ruthless, it was clinical, it was direct and it was with intensity, and they deserved it. Brilliant.”

With six goals, Russo is now joint top scorer in this year’s competition alongside Bayern Munich’s Pernille Harder. TNT Sports commentator Jacqui Oatley noted that Russo’s output has improved dramatically since Slegers took over from Jonas Eidevall in October. After scoring just once under the Swede this term, Russo has now netted 16 goals under Slegers. TNT Sports expert Fara Williams suggested that a small tweak to her game has helped her rediscover her scoring touch.

“I notice small changes,” Williams remarked. “I think some of the small changes are the work that she does without the ball. I felt before she did a lot of her movements in wide areas, away from the goal. I think under Renee Slegers and certainly under the guidance of Kelly Smith, she’s done more work centrally, between the posts, and that’s where you get most of your goals. I felt in the first half, she did too much of her work away and out of the area. I think that for me has been a massive change for her – she’s in front of the goal and we all know that she can finish really well.”

Russo herself admitted she was enjoying her football, unable to stop smiling as Katie McCabe insisted she take the acclaim of the 22,517-strong crowd at the Emirates, a new Women’s Champions League record for a quarter-final held in England.

“It’s when Katie keeps pushing me to the crowd, I don’t know what to do with myself,” Russo said. “The week’s been busy, but we’ve all been locked in and then tonight’s when you enjoy, enjoy the football. We enjoyed the crowd and we’ll enjoy tonight.”

Arsenal will now face record eight-time Champions League winners Lyon in the semi-finals, after the French side thrashed Bayern Munich 6-1 in their quarter-final tie.