Arsenal vs Real Madrid 08.04.2025 - 20:00 KO GMT

Arguably the most consequential European tie for Arsenal in over a decade, both in terms of prestige and in terms of being a barometer of where we are and how far we still have to go.


Real Madrid are one of those teams that can be irrepressible when it comes to knockout European football, but they have been bested by English opponents (City in 2020 and 2023, Chelsea in 2021)

They have of course also bested English teams in that time

This has not been a consistently good team in Europe - Lost to AC Milan, Lille and Liverpool in the league stage, but they steamrolled City and despite being taken all the way by city rivals Atletico ultimately triumphed against them.

It could be argued that their six trophies in 11 seasons suggests they win when they need to

They are the reigning European champions

If we fall short (which I suspect we may) I think ultimately our shortcoming will be up front rather than in defence. Saka is our best player I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, but we cannot rely on him to single handedly bring us through. An inconsistent Martinelli and Odegaard who looks like he’s short on confidence and amazingly short on form are going to have to show something they’ve not shown for an age…what they are truly capable of

I would favour this lineup

Raya, White, Timber, Saliba, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Partey, Odegaard, Martinelli, Nwaneri, Saka

I hope we win, tbh.

Just hoping we make it competitive and also learn from that first leg against Bayern last year where we could have won but instead lost composure and had to scrape a draw.

I’m going to try and be positive for this and say a 2-1 win. :scarf:

Rice is on a yellow card though, not having him in the Bernabeu would be disastrous for our already slim chances of progressing.

Ah. Apparently it's on Prime. Nice. Will be watching then.

0-3 Mbappe hatter

It'll be interesting to see how we set up defensively - Kiwior was fine re Everton but obvs Real is another matter.

That said given the paucity of options and White not being fully fit I think I'd go for the following:

He'll start Saka I'm sure, so I'm not even going to bother to suggest otherwise.

Raya
Timber Saliba Kiwior MLS
Partey
Ode Rice
Saka Merino Martinelli

Quick question, I wasn't to sure but who started as our CF on Saturday.....was it Trossard or Merino? And if it was Trossard does that mean Arteta is thinking of playing him in that role against Real?

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Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE

Quick question, I wasn't to sure but who started as our CF on Saturday.....was it Trossard or Merino? And if it was Trossard does that mean Arteta is thinking of playing him in that role against Real?

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It appeared to be, I’d have personally shifted him and Sterling around but he scored and Sterling was predictably useless so there we go

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn

It appeared to be, I’d have personally shifted him and Sterling around but he scored and Sterling was predictably useless so there we go

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Useless apart from providing the good assist to Trossard :haha:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mac76

Useless apart from providing the good assist to Trossard :haha:

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He found Trossard who was in space to his left because he didn’t have the legs to take the ball any further himself

And constantly throughout the game lacked the ability to beat his man

Just seen an article asking why Raheem Sterling wasn't included in Arsenal's training session for the Madrid game (asking was he injured and will he be in the squad for the match) erm there's a very good reason for this he is SUSPENDED... https://tbrfootball.com/exceptional-...-madrid-clash/