Holders Madrid seek sensational comeback against Arsenal in UCL
It is remontada or bust for reigning Champions League champions, Real Madrid, on today, where Carlo Ancelotti’s men must pull off the most sensational comeback against Arsenal in the second leg of their quarter-final to keep their dream of a sweet 16 alive.
The 15-time European Cup holders were slaughtered 3-0 at the Emirates in last week’s first leg, but Los Blancos now have the famed Bernabeu factor on their side.
As Real’s shiny new toy Kylian Mbappe waits patiently for his first-ever goal from a direct free kick, Arsenal’s £105m man Declan Rice offered the World Cup winner some set-piece pointers in North London, firing in two unbelievable dead-ball strikes in the space of 12 minutes.
Even ex-Madrid left-back and free-kick icon Roberto Carlos in attendance at the Emirates should have been able to force a smile when Rice firstly bent an incredible effort around the wall before a postage-stamp second, which preceded emergency number nine Mikel Merino also having his say with a brilliant first-time finish.
As a euphoric Emirates crowd celebrated the most famous night in the stadium’s memory, Real Madrid who deserved nothing and got nothing in North London lost a first leg of a Champions League/European Cup knockout tie by three or more goals for just the fifth time in their history.
Los Blancos ended up being eliminated on four of those previous five occasions, but the one outlier did come against an English side in the shape of Derby County, whom they lost 4-1 against in the first leg of the 1975-76 last 16 before a 5-1 turnaround in the second.
As Manchester City and Chelsea can attest to, Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are anything but a foregone conclusion, although that 5-1 vs. Derby marks just one of
two occasions where Real have beaten an English side by at least four goals in the competition the other was a 4-0 quarter-final battering of Tottenham Hotspur in 2011.
On the flip side, Real Madrid have also conceded at least one goal in each of their last 10 European contests at the Bernabeu, music to the ears of an Arsenal side who may not be able to solely rely on their staunch defending to finish the quarter-final job.
Having defied the absences of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Magalhaes to rip Real Madrid to shreds in the English capital, Mikel Arteta’s men would be more than worthy semi-finalists, a stage they have only ever reached twice before and not since 2009.
Perhaps the Gunners’ only regret from the first leg was that they did not build a more commanding lead, having had 11 shots on target on the night the joint-most of any team against Real Madrid in a UCL knockout game and they returned to their wasteful ways at the weekend.
It has been 19 years since a trademark Thierry Henry solo run propelled Arsenal to a 1-0 Bernabeu win in 2006, and the North London giants are yet to lose to Real Madrid in a competitive match, but they can afford to have that sequence snapped and still celebrate dumping out the holders on their own patch.
Aurelien Tchouameni is now eligible again following a first-leg ban and is a straight swap for Camavinga in the middle, while Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior should have relatively fresh legs after only making substitute appearances vs Alaves.
As far as Arsenal are concerned, coming through their clash with Brentford without any new fitness issues would have been the overriding priority, but their prayers went unanswered as Jorginho and Thomas Partey both sustained problems in the second half.
Neither man is thought to be nursing a serious injury, but they will require once-overs before the jaunt to Spain, as will Ben White, who was ruled out of the draw before kickoff after sustaining a knock in training.
A well-rested Jurrien Timber will return to the XI regardless of White’s fitness levels, though, while Myles Lewis-Skelly, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Merino whose four goals against Real is his best record against a single opponent are also primed to come back in.-SportsMole
