Arsenal vs Real Madrid. Champions League quarter final. Two powerhouses of European football. A staggering 15 European Cups between them. It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
And yet remarkably this will be the first meeting between the two sides in almost two decades. March 2006 was the last time we met at Highbury. But before that came the first leg at the Bernabeu. We all know the story. Arsenal, the underdogs, pitted against the Galacticos’ of Madrid – Zidane, Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and, of course, Jonathan Woodgate. Arsenal were without Sol Campbell and Cashley Hole and travelled to Madrid with a back four which included two midfielders in Flamini and Eboue at full back and Phillipe Senderos. We soaked up the pressure and then Thierry Henry did his thing and scored one of the most famous goals in our history. Perhaps our most famous in the Champions League. The first English team to win at the Bernabeu. In a knockout stage game, no less.
We held on for the win and took it back to N5 and held on some more for a 0-0 draw to take us to the next round as we went on to reach the final without conceding. A good omen perhaps? We shall see. One thing we can be certain of though is that a meeting with Los Blancos is long overdue. Considering Real Madrid are the undisputed Kings of Europe, and we have been Champions League regulars over the last quarter of a century, albeit with a six-year exile, the rarity of the two sides locking horns seems unusual. Of course, Madrid regularly reach semi finals and finals, whereas before last year we hadn’t made the last eight for 14 long years. However, we have reached the round of 16 in all our last 15 UCL campaigns, (not including this year) a record which stretches back to 2003/04 and that 2006 showdown was our sole encounter.
Real Madrid are, of course, the current European Champions having lifted their 15th title at Wembley last year, defeating Dortmund 2-0 in the final. They have won the UCL a staggering six times since 2014. If you think Liverpool have won it six times in their entire history and that is rightly considered to be a very good record, well…Madrid have matched that in a single decade. And when you look at some of the players, they’ve had over the last century it’s not difficult to see why they win it so regularly. Tomorrow night, we will certainly be up against many the world’s best. Despite defensive duo Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao being long term absentees, they still boast the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Raul Ascencio at the back. In midfield they have 2018 Balon D’or winner and former N17 sufferer Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga and of course Jude Bellingham. I suspect that will be the trio Carlo Ancelotti will go with. And, as for the three fellows in attack, well it’s probably best to think about those guys as little as possible over the next week or so. It will of course be the Brazilian tricksters Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo on the flanks with the lesser-known Kylian Mbappe down the middle. I reckon he’s a decent prospect. One to keep an eye on mefinks! They do have a significant number of players who are one booking away from suspension for the second leg including Rudiger and Vinicius. So of course those players will be allowed to make as many fouls as they wish. Those are the rules when it comes to Real Madrid.
Despite the incredible pool of talent at their disposal, Real are lucky to be at this stage for several reasons. They have ridden their luck in the Champions League all season as they often do, but even more so this year. They were average in the league phase finishing 11th, losing to Liverpool, AC Milan at home and Lille. They comfortably swatted aside 115 FC in the play off round but were incredibly fortunate to eliminate their city rivals Atletico in the Round of 16. They won 2-1 at home in the first leg but a 1-0 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano forced a penalty shootout in which Real prevailed after Julian Alvarez saw his penalty disallowed by VAR for an alleged “double touch” despite replays showing very inconclusive footage. In the same way Arsenal gets penalised for incidents no one else does, Real get given decisions in their favour that no one else would. We will have to be on our best behaviour to avoid any ridiculous punishments. That means no kicking the ball away 0.0000000000001 seconds after the whistle is blown and not violently tapping your opponent on the leg 85 yards from goal.
In terms of Arteta’s team selection, you would expect Kiwior to start alongside Saliba and hopefully Saka is fit enough to start after playing the second 45’ at Goodison Park. Predicted team is as follows;
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, MLS
Rice, Partey, Odegaard
Saka, Merino, Martinelli
Rice, Timber and Martinelli are all one booking away from suspension. Raheem Sterling misses out through suspension. How on earth will we cope?!
Realistically, we probably need to win by two goals to have a good chance of progression to the last four going into the second leg. And that is what I am going to predict with Arsenal triumphing 3-1 on a famous night in N5. I would like to make it very clear that what I would like to happen and what I think will happen are two very different things and I have opted to go for the former here. Arteta said earlier that he wants everyone in attendance to “play the game with us” and not be a spectator for 90 minutes. I think we all know exactly what he meant by that. Let’s hope the fans were listening and grant Mikel his wish.
COYG
Thanks for that appetite-whetening preview, 21cg. As a former junior year abroad student in Madrid I attended a few home matches of Real, Atlético, and relative minnows Rayo Vallecano and the first two of those do seem to know a good deal about how to navigate their paths through the straits of European football competitions. But not always do the matches play out according to the scripts so let’s be ready to take advantage of any and all openings that present themselves, and maybe we will see a famous victory this year. Come on Arsenal, make us proud!
I wonder if we might see Ben White at RB and Timber at left back. Great as he is, this is a very tricky game to throw MLS into and Madrid will be out to lure him into mistakes that Timber might be a bit more wise to.
That said, if MLS starts I won’t be disappointed and good luck to the young fella.
That sets the game up nicely, 21CG. I will take your 3-1 in a heartbeat. Time to summon the spirit of Eboue, Toure, Senderos and Flamini!
There is still one participant in those 2006 games still playing, Sergio Ramos, who joined Monterrey in the Liga MX in February and has scored two goals in four games.
Trev@2: You might be right about White starting. If Timber is only one yellow away from suspension, there might also be a case for trying to make sure he is available for the second leg. Nor would I want to go to the Bernabeu without Rice and Martinelli, but I cannot see Arteta dropping either for the first leg.
Cheers 21CG! Big one tomorrow indeed.
I’ll take any score that still has us competing next week.
Thanks for an extremely tasty aperitif to this game, 21CG. I feel that our success in this quarter final hangs predominantly on this home leg and I think we have to get our noses in front tomorrow evening as I’m not confident we have the firepower or the smarts to mimic our heroes of ’06 and get a victory in the Bernabéu. That was an extraordinary achievement and that team really should have gone on to lift Big Ears as should the even better side that fell at this hurdle to Chelsea a couple of years earlier. If this Arsenal team can get through this QF, given the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune that they have had to endure, it will be a massive achievement and tomorrow’s game will deserve to enter Arsenal folklore. I do think that with a fully fit squad we would give this Real Madrid team a doing. Hey ho! At least we don’t have to deal with a PGMOL Mafioso as well!
Go win, Arsenal!
I’d love to see your 3-1 prediction materialise 21CG. However, should we need to place emphasis on containing the opposition’s front three, an old-fashioned 1-0 to The Arsenal is the minimum I’ll be comfortable with before the second leg.
Lovely preview 21 CG . Sets the game up beautifully.
If I may I’d like to revert to the Bernabeu in 2006 . The week before we had lost to Liverpool at Anfield and been very unimpressive . As 21CG says we were missing Campbell and Cole and Fabregas in midfield was a callow youth . I was so concerned about the outcome that I almost didn’t watch it .
Lest anyone think we snatched an Henry goal and held on nothing could be further from the truth. We outplayed Real in the Bernabeu and until the last ten minutes we totally contained Real. We carried that form over into the second leg.
Tomorrow I don’t think he will play Kiwior and will use Benny and Timber defensively , probably with Timber in the middle .I think MLS should and will play and I hope the challenge of Real reignites Odegaard and we see the huge potential of Nwaneri . I agree with Btm that a canny 1-0 would do us but I think we can make it 2-0 .Have faith Holics these are the games we dreamed of being involved in during the dark days from 2017-2022.
A preview worthy of the occasion — excellent one 21CG!
I agree with keeping MLS away from the starting left-back position for this match. Even a very minor positional mistake will get punished. However, later in the second half if we are looking for more midfield control he can be an astute sub. As a few others have mentioned, White as RB and Timber in LB will help us manage the Brazilian duo. I think Wilo will relish playing against his compatriot (and I think someone he knew from their childhood days) and keeping him quiet. I think it’s just a slightly better option than playing White-Saliba with Saliba on the left and MLS as the LB, which loses out on Wilo’s right footed distribution. A natural left footer on the left side of the defense is a potent attacking weapon which we use with both Gabriel or Kiwior, who has a good passing range. A surprising option could be to start with KT as the LB and Timber as Saliba’s partner.
Rest of the team is predictable. This can be the match when Ethan fully announces himself coming on as Saka’s sub around 65th minute, attacking Madrid’s right side with his signature verve and fearlessness. May turn out to be one of those cagey CL matches that get settled towards the end by the side being more positive and front-footed. A 1-0 or 2-1 victory for us is well within the realms of possibilities, and if we manage to take a two goal lead back to Madrid that would be fantastic.
Martinelli was brilliant in our last home game, and this is a match where he would feel just that extra bit of motivation to show that he is not far behind the more famous Brazilian teammates in the opposition. He is overdue a goal or two, and would love to see him score one early and run at their defense relentlessly the whole match. 🙂 The special attention given to Saka should help him find extra space.
Finally, if Martin ever needed just that extra bit of motivation to rediscover his best form this season, proving himself against Ancelotti may provide that occasion. I don’t think Real is going to enjoy facing Rice-Ødegaard-Saka-Martinelli fully pumped up and with the supporters cheering them on. I don’t think they often face that combination of the technical and physical in La Liga.
Come on Arsenal!
Dr F has me feeling confident in the morning.
Long hours to spend until then though!
Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining preview, 21CG. Nice work.
TTG – I love the positive approach. As you say, these are the games we dreamed/dream of. Let’s savour it. Even with our injury list as it is, on our day we are a match for anyone. We will need a measure of luck. Perhaps given what has happened this season, we are overdue a game or 3 with that fickle deity bestowing her favours on us. I’m really looking forward to the match and savouring the atmosphere in the ground which I hope will be suitably charged and noisy. The Block 10 concourse has been noticeably flat this season in comparison with the previous couple. On a night where I imagine the regulars will come out in force and Ticket Exchange seats will be rarer than Antony Taylor’s half-decent decisions, let’s make sure we make it loud and proud and give the team what they deserve. I’m bang up for it.
COYG.
Thanks 21CG, an excellent preview of our biggest game in quite a while.
I think you have the team that MA will pick about right and I pray you
have the score right too, CoYGs!,
I will be searching desperately round the dump truck that is Heathrow Airport
for somewhere to watch the game tonight and I hope I am lucky too 😄
On Kiwior I wouldn’t start him either but I think MA will.
I would start MLS on the other hand, it’s a night for big
characters.
Thanks 21,
Real schmeal – blah.
2-0 will be it.
UTA.
Love the optimism. Let’s do it!
The latest GHF Predictathon leaderboard has been posted. Two improved their scores for every one that slid back. Which group were you in? You know where to find the answer…
Thanks 21CG – you’ve set up this exciting match perfectly. A well deserved bonus for getting the team selection spot on. This is a great opportunity to show we are back at the top table. Can’t predict the scoreline, just let’s do dis!
COYRRR
Saka and Kiwior start.
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, MLS
Partey, Ødegaard, Rice
Saka, Merino, Martinelli
Bench: Tierney, White, Zinchenko, Trossard, Jorghino, Butler-Oyedeji, Gower, Nwaneri, Neto, Setford
Saka cross for a tap in and no one anticipated. Oh to have scored just before halftime.
We finished that half well on top but Courtois and his gangly arms are always tough to get the ball past. Rice and Martinelli’s shots weren’t close enough to the post.
1-0! A cracker from Rice
Ahead at the turn. Still a long way to go, but with wind in our sails.
Well, that sent a message across Europe 😄🎉
This should encourage our William to stay put.
Look at Raya’s pass for the third goal. He had the easy option to pass to the left back but played the more risky pass centrally to start the move. A brilliant goal. What a hit from Merino.
Right back…
Kiwior played well.
@25 yeah balls of steel from Raya and I agree Kiwior showed a lot of character tonight.
Great night for a lot of them really
Stat of the night: Rice’s first goal was his first-ever successful free-kick in his career in 339 games, according to the club.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/six-key-points-our-masterclass-against-madrid
I am astounded that this is true. Looks like a late night for the monks…
The Rice stat is true, with the caveat that it is for senior club games only (excludes age-group and international games) and excludes penalties. What a way to break your duck. And then do it again.
Just back from the game. What an absolutely brilliant night.
The celebrations on the North Bank were so intense I think I should do a pregnancy test.
Everyone walking away from the game had huge smiles on their faces.
Can’t wait to watch it back tomorrow.
Well, I’ve had worse evenings….
The very definition of top bins
Declan Rice told TH14 in an interview for CBS’s football show in the US, that, with the free kick that led to his first goal, Jovier had signalled to Saka to go for a free kick routine that involved Saka sending an inswinger to the far post. However, he (Rice) thought the wall had been set up too narrowly, and he fancied he could get around it. So the pair decided to ignore the coach’s instructions, with Bukayo saying, ‘if you feel it, go for it’. Given Rice’s ability to bend the ball from corners, it is surprising that he doesn’t take more free kicks from that sort of position. It was our first goal directly from a free kick since 2021.
Speechless. Amazing goals and could have been more.
Magnificent capture there, C100!
I was fed up with Arsenal fans telling me we were going to be ‘ rinsed’, ‘stuffed’, run ragged’. So little faith .
That was a night for the ages . I so wished I was there but was so glad for all who were
As for C100 I think you’ll be ok if you’d didn’t inhale .😀
How proud did that make you .??
>>>>>>>