Arsenal had arguably their greatest ever night at the Emirates Stadium last week as they demolished Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The Gunners were rampant as they set up a 3-0 lead heading into the second match in the Spanish capital.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side initially looked dangerous on the counterattack with Kylian Mbappe getting in behind from a Jude Bellingham pass, but his shot was easily stopped by David Raya in the Arsenal goal. But while the teams went in level at the break, it was the hosts who were on top for much of the first half.
Then Declan Rice stepped up. After Bukayo Saka was brought down around 30 yards from goal, Rice whipped a devilish free-kick around the wall, with shades of Roberto Carlos as the ball curled just inside the post and beyond Thibaut Courtois.
A little over 10 minutes later, the England midfielder was at it again, this time smashing an effort into the highest reaches of the Real Madrid net. The only thing debatable about the finish was whether or not it was better than his first.
Myles Lewis-Skelly then set up Mikel Merino to add some gloss to the scoreline heading into the second game against the Spanish champions, who are embroiled in a slightly closer title race than Arsenal at the moment. Ancelotti’s side trail Barcelona by four points currently, after losing last weekend and missing the chance to narrow the gap to one point.
Next up for Real Madrid is a clash against 17th-placed Alaves – on paper a game they should be winning fairly handily. However, it is an away game with around a 400km trip to the north of the country.
Crucially for Ancelotti’s team, it is a day later than Arsenal’s home clash against Brentford this weekend. Mikel Arteta’s team take on their London rivals on Saturday night, knowing that the Premier League title race is effectively over with Liverpool holding an 11-point lead and just seven games remaining.
That means Arteta has the option to rotate and rest some of his stars who have played a lot of football over recent months – as well as perhaps being able to play a bit more safely with Saka after his recent return from injury. The Gunners having an extra day than Real to rest and recover certainly gives them an additional boost.
And with Real still chasing back-to-back La Liga titles, it means they will likely not be able to make significant changes to the side ahead of what will need to be a huge performance against Arsenal to stand any chance of progressing to the semi-finals.
It’s advantage Arsenal in more ways than one.
Credit- Football.london
