Mikel Arteta Confident Of Arsenal Win vs Real: Premier League club Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta talks up his team ahead of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash against Spanish giants Real Madrid, claiming that his team has what it takes to win that contest.
The UCL Round of 16 matchups recently ended, and we now have our quarterfinal lineup. While there were some shocking results, most of the teams that made it to the final round were expected to do so. Barcelona thrashed Benfica across two legs, and so did Inter against Feyenoord. Liverpool and PSG were level after the two legs, but the French club won via penalties. Bayern Munich dominated the fellow German side Leverkusen. Dortmund pipped Lille in a close match-up, and Aston Villa won their tie against Club Brugge fairly comfortably.
For Arsenal, after finishing third in the league stage and directly qualifying for the Round of 16, their first leg game against PSV away was a memorable one, as the Gunners won 7-1. The second leg result didn’t matter much, as the match ended in a 2-2 draw; the English side won the tie 9-2.
Check Out: Mikel Arteta Confident Of Arsenal Win vs Real
As for Los Blancos, they came into this competition as the defending champions, finished 11th in the league stage, and had to take on the mighty Manchester City, whom they defeated 6-1 across two legs. Then, they took on their city rivals, Athletico Madrid, in the Round of 16. They won the first leg at home 2-1 and lost the away match 1-0. The tie came down to penalties, which Real won 4-2 to make it to the quarters.
Both Arsenal and Real Madrid are currently second in their domestic leagues, and while the Madridistas are still in the La Liga title race, the Gunners are not. Besides that, it is always a threat to face the Spanish giants in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, seeing this club’s propensity to win the tournament time and again.
Mikel Arteta Confident Of Arsenal Win vs Real
However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is confident of his side’s chances of winning the UCL quarterfinal against Real Madrid. He had this to say about the upcoming clash to The Independent:
“We have to value that and recognise that it is very difficult to do it (back-to-back). We’ve done it consistently, and now we want to make the next step, which is going to be very difficult, but we are very capable.”
He then went on to praise his opposition’s sheer consistency in winning and doing well in the Champions League year after year, saying,
“Why is it (consistency) important? Because we want to win. You’re going to have to go through the stages because the club needs it. We are a club, a team, that wants to be the best and wants to be competing with the best clubs in the world. In order to do that, you constantly have to be there. And it’s very difficult, but we’ve done it for two years in a row, and we have the capacity and the ability to do it even better.”
Arsenal will take on cross-city rivals Chelsea in their next Premier League match on Sunday, March 16. Their next UCL match, which will be the first quarterfinal leg at home, will be played on Tuesday, April 8 (April 9 IST).
Check Out: Mikel Arteta Confident Of Arsenal Win vs Real
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