Mikel Arteta has thanked Pep Guardiola for offering his advice ahead of Arsenal's memorable Champions League triumph over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Arsenal entered the quarter-final second leg with a 3-0 lead, and any fears that Madrid would mount another memorable European fightback were unfounded.

Bukayo Saka – who had earlier seen a penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois – was joined on the scoresheet by Gabriel Martinelli as the Gunners won 2-1 to book a last-four meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.

And Arteta, who subsequently described the victory as one of the best moments of his career, revealed he had a chat with mentor-turned-rival Guardiola on Wednesday morning.

"I called him because if I am here, it is thanks to him to a great extent," Arteta told reporters of his conversation with the Manchester City boss, who he assisted between 2016 and 2019.

"He has been a big inspiration to me. I lived four amazing years with him and I will always be grateful to him. Without him, I wouldn't be here."

Arsenal will appear in the Champions League semi-finals for the third time, and the first since 2008-09. Only once have they reached the final, finishing as runners-up in 2005-06.

Overall, it is the 30th time an English side has advanced to the semi-finals of the competition, with only Spanish teams (38) having done so more often.

Arteta, meanwhile, is the 10th Spanish manager to reach a Champions League semi-final, with only Italy (11) having more different coaches do so in the competition's history.

"Our team is very hungry and we want to keep on doing great things. We want to keep playing at semi-finals," Arteta added.

"We will have to go through tough times if we want to continue playing at this stage but we also have to enjoy it.

"The first thing I thought when the game finished was of my wife and my children because they've heard all week about what can happen in this stadium. They were here with me and they were proud."

Arsenal will host PSG in the first leg on April 29, having defeated the Ligue 1 champions 2-0 at home in the group stage in October.