Bukayo Saka’s Nigerian girlfriend Tolami Benson was among the spectators at the iconic Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night as Arsenal defeated defending champions Real Madrid to advance to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Benson shared snaps on Instagram from the Santiago Bernabéu, where she was cheering on her boyfriend, ex-Nigeria Football Federation target Bukayo Saka, who is cap-tied to his country of birth, England.
She has been in a relationship with Bukayo since 2020, but the pair have kept their relationship low-key — not even following each other on Instagram.
Tolami is a PR and media graduate with a BA (Hons) degree from Birmingham City University, and has over 204,000 followers on Instagram.
She follows Nigeria international Nathan Tella, a product of Arsenal’s Hale End Academy like Saka, on Instagram.
Arsenal advanced to their first Champions League semifinal since 2009 with a 2-1 win over Real Madrid, in a game where VAR had a significant impact on two penalty calls.
Watching from the stands, Tolami saw Saka miss a penalty in the 13th minute, following a foul by Raul Ascencio on Mikel Merino as the ball was played into the box.
The Arsenal number 7 redeemed himself in the 65th minute when he dinked the ball over goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, but the visitors’ lead lasted less than two minutes as Vinicius Junior slotted into an empty net following a defensive blunder by William Saliba.
Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli scored the match-winner in the third minute of stoppage time after picking up a pass from Merino at the halfway line
Arsenal will meet Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semifinals.
