LONDON (AP) — Alessia Russo scored twice and Arsenal staged a remarkable comeback to reach the Women’s Champions League semifinals with a 3-0 win over Real Madrid.
Mariona Caldentey scored the other as Arsenal grabbed three goals in 13 minutes to overturn the team’s 2-0 loss in the first leg of the quarterfinal in the Spanish capital last week.
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Arsenal's Alessia Russo, centre, and team-mates celebrate following the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, scores their side's first goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey, right, celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, and Arsenal's Lia Walti celebrate following the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo scores their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal manager Renee Slegers ahead of the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Athenea, left, and Arsenal's Katie McCabe battle for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Steph Catley, right, and Real Madrid's Signe Bruun fight for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Katie McCabe, right, and Real Madrid's Signe Bruun fight for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, attempts a shot on goal during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Sheila Garcia, left, and Arsenal's Frida Maanum battle for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Caldentey, who used to torment Madrid while playing for Barcelona, wheeled away in delight after leveling the tie three minutes after Russo pulled a goal back as Arsenal couldn't have had a better start to the second half.
Russo fired Arsenal in front for the first time in the tie with an acrobatic finish in the 59th. It proved to be the winner in the 3-2 victory on aggregate.
The England star might have had a hat trick only to be denied by a VAR call for offside, then by Madrid goalkeeper Misa in a one-on-one, then by another offside call.
Arsenal needed a save from goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar in stoppage time to prevent Madrid star Linda Caicedo from sending the match to extra time.
Arsenal will face last season’s beaten finalist Lyon as it seeks to win the trophy for the second time after success in 2007.
Kadidiatou Diani scored one goal and set up two more as Lyon outclassed Bayern Munich 4-1 in the second leg of their quarterfinal earlier.
The French powerhouse needed a wake-up call before reaching the semifinals for the 13th time. Klara Bühl opened the scoring in the 33rd minute off the far post to claw a goal back for Bayern after losing the first leg 2-0 in Munich.
Lyon, the eight-time champion, emerged reinvigorated after the break and went on to wrap up a 6-1 victory on aggregate with Diani scoring and setting up goals for Melchie Dumornay and Tabitha Chawinga, who both scored in Munich last week.
Dumornay played in Ada Hegerberg to seal the rout with a flourish by shooting the ball through Bayern goalkeeper Maria-Luisa “Mala” Grohs ’ legs in stoppage time.
Bayern will be left to rue defensive blunders for undermining its comeback hopes.
The other quarterfinal second legs are scheduled for Thursday, with defending champion Barcelona in a comfortable position after a 4-1 win over Wolfsburg in Germany, and Chelsea needing goals as it hosts Manchester City after losing the first leg 2-0.
Barcelona defeated Lyon in last year's final.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, centre, and team-mates celebrate following the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, scores their side's first goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey, right, celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, and Arsenal's Lia Walti celebrate following the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo scores their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game before being ruled out for offside during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal manager Renee Slegers ahead of the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Athenea, left, and Arsenal's Katie McCabe battle for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Steph Catley, right, and Real Madrid's Signe Bruun fight for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Katie McCabe, right, and Real Madrid's Signe Bruun fight for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Arsenal's Alessia Russo, right, attempts a shot on goal during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Sheila Garcia, left, and Arsenal's Frida Maanum battle for the ball during the Women's Champions League, quarter-final, second leg soccer match between Arsenal and Real Madrid in London, Wednesday March 26, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) — The smell of decaying bodies permeated the streets of Myanmar's second-largest city on Sunday as people worked frantically by hand to clear rubble in the hope of finding someone still alive, two days after a massive earthquake struck that killed more than 1,600 people and left countless others buried.
The 7.7 magnitude quake hit midday Friday with an epicenter near Mandalay, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city’s airport.
Relief efforts have been hampered by buckled roads, downed bridges, spotty communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the midst of a civil war.
The search for survivors has been primarily conducted by the local residents without the aid of heavy equipment, moving rubble by hand and with shovels in 41-degree Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) heat, with only the occasional tracked excavator to be seen.
A 5.1 magnitude aftershock Sunday afternoon prompted screams from those in the streets, and then the work continued.
Many of Mandalay's 1.5 million people spent the night sleeping on the streets, either left homeless by the quake, which also shook neighboring Thailand and killed at least 17 people there, or worried that the continuing aftershocks might cause structures left unstable to collapse.
So far 1,644 people have been reported killed in Myanmar and 3,408 missing, but many areas have not yet been reached, and many rescue efforts so far have been undertaken by people working by hand to try and clear rubble, said Cara Bragg, the Yangon-based manager of Catholic Relief Services in Myanmar.
“It's mainly been local volunteers, local people who are just trying to find their loved ones,” Bragg said after bring briefed by her colleague in Mandalay.
“I've also seen reports that now some countries are sending search and rescue teams up to Mandalay to support the efforts, but hospitals are really struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, there's a shortage of medical supplies, and people are struggling to find food and clean water,” Bragg added.
The organization was sending a team by road on Sunday to assess peoples' most pressing needs so that it could target its own response.
With the Mandalay airport damaged and the control tower toppled in the capital Naypitaw's airport, all commercial flights into the cities have been shut down.
Official relief efforts in Naypitaw were prioritizing government offices and staff housing, leaving locals and aid groups to dig through the rubble by hand in residential areas, the hot sun beating down and the smell of death in the air.
A team sent from neighboring China rescued an older man who had been trapped for nearly 40 hours beneath the rubble of a Naypitaw hospital, and many others are believed to still be buried under, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Myanmar sits on the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.
The earthquake occurred when a 200-kilometer (125-mile) section of the fault ruptured, causing widespread damage along a wide swath of territory down the middle of the country, including Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Bago regions and Shan State.
Few details have come out so far, however, from areas other than the main urban areas of Mandalay and Naypitaw.
Still, two Indian C-17 military transport aircraft were able to land late Saturday at Naypitaw with a field hospital unit and some 120 personnel who were then to travel north to Mandalay to establish a 60-bed emergency treatment center, according to the country's Foreign Ministry. Other Indian supplies were flown into Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, which has been the hub of other foreign relief efforts.
On Sunday, a convoy of 17 Chinese cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies was expected to reach Mandalay, after making the arduous journey by road from Yangon.
The 650-kilometer (400-mile) journey has been taking 14 hours or longer, with clogged roads and traffic diverted from the main highway to skirt damage from the earthquake.
At the same time, the window of opportunity to find anyone alive is rapidly closing. Most rescues occur within the first 24 hours after a disaster, and then survival chances drop as each day passes.
An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”
China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies like medical kits and generators and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon, and the country’s Health Ministry said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.
Teams from Singapore have been working already in Naypitaw. Malaysia dispatched a team of 50 personnel on Sunday with trucks, search and rescue equipment and medical supplies. Thailand said 55 of its soldiers arrived in Yangon on Sunday to help with search and rescue operations, while Britain announced a $13 million aid package to help its locally-funded partners already in Myanmar respond to the crisis.
In neighboring Thailand, the quake rocked much of the country, bringing down a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away from the epicenter.
So far, 10 people have been found dead at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market, where 83 people are unaccounted for and the latest body was recovered from the rubble early Sunday morning. A total of 17 people have been reported killed by the quake in Thailand so far.
In Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, rescue efforts so far are focused on Mandalay and Naypyitaw, which are thought to have been the hardest hit, but many other areas were also impacted and little is known so far about the damage there.
“We're hearing reports of hundreds of people trapped in different areas,” said Bragg. “Right now we're at 1,600 (known fatalities) and we don't have a lot of data coming out but you've got to assume it will be increasing in the thousands based on what the impacts are. This is just anecdotal information at this point.”
Beyond the earthquake damage, rescue efforts are complicated by the bloody civil war roiling much of the country, including in quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.
Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.
The government military has been fighting long-established militias and newly formed pro-democracy People's Defense Forces, and has heavily restricted much-needed aid efforts to the large population already displaced by war even before the earthquake.
Military attacks continued with airstrikes on Friday and reports of mortar and drone attacks on Saturday.
Tom Andrews, a monitor on rights in Myanmar commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, called for the military to immediately call a ceasefire.
“Aid workers should not have to fear arrest and there should be no obstructions to aid getting to where it is most needed,” he said on X. “Every minute counts.”
Rising and Peck reported from Bangkok. Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Simina Mistreanu in Taipei and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story.
People watch as rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March, 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A volunteer drives an excavator to help rescue operations near Maharmyatmuni pagoda after an earthquake in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
A Buddhist monk walks near a collapsed pagoda after an earthquake in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
A Buddhist monk and a man walk past the Maharmyatmuni pagoda in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
People walk past a damaged pagoda near Maharmyatmuni pagoda, in the aftermath of an earthquake in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
This handout photo provided by India's National Disaster Response Force shows a rescue team along with trained canines before boarding for Myanmar following Friday's earthquae, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (National Disaster Response Force via AP)
Rescuers work to find survivors in a house that collapsed after an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
Rescuers work to find survivors in a house that collapsed after an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers conduct a search and rescue at a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers conduct a search and rescue at a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers load relief materials onto a chartered flight for support the earthquake in Myanmar, at the Kunming Changshui International Airport in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Peng Yikai/Xinhua via AP)
Heavy machineries clear the debris as rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March, 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of victims wait as rescuers work at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday morning, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A person watches rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
people watch rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Women cry as they wait for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers works look for the survivors at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman reacts after being informed that her husband had died at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
