Arsenal will be hoping to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals when they take on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
Mikel Arteta’s side stunned the Spanish giants 3-0 at the Emirates last week, with Declan Rice providing two moments of set-piece brilliance to give the Gunners a huge advantage in the tie.
It puts Arsenal in a great position to make the final four of Europe’s elite competition.
However, Carlo Ancelloti’s side, 15-time European champions, have found themselves behind in the Champions League year on year and have always managed to progress in the most unlikely circumstances.
Real will also be confident after securing a 1-0 win at Alaves in La Liga on Sunday despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men after Kylian Mbappe was dismissed for a dangerous tackle.
On the other hand, Arsenal have never won the Champions League and haven’t reached the semi-final stage since 2008/09.
With the Premier League title in Liverpool’s hands, the Champions League is the Gunners’ only hope of silverware this season.
Arsenal are also not able to carry momentum into the match as they drew 1-1 with Brentford in the Premier League last time out.
But history could be on their side…
Real Madrid vs Arsenal: Gunning for it
Arsenal remain unbeaten against Real in European competition (W2 D1), and haven’t conceded a single goal across their three meetings.
The Gunners could become the first side ever to keep 4 consecutive clean sheets against Los Blancos in the Champions League.
Arsenal could also equal their longest winning run away from home in the European Cup / Champions League with four.
The only previous time the Gunners have done that, the fourth game of that run was a victory against Real at the Bernabeu.
- Real Madrid’s defeat at the Emirates Stadium was the fifth time they have lost the first leg of a knockout stage tie in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League by 3+ goals, while they’ve been eliminated in the second leg in three of the previous four occasions (the exception being against Derby County in the last 16 in 1975-76, winning 6-5 on aggregate after a 1-4 defeat in the first leg).
- Across the 53 games that Real Madrid have played against English sides in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, they’ve managed to win by more than three goals on just two previous occasions: 5-1 v Derby County in 1975-76 (last 16) and 4-0 v Tottenham Hotspur in 2010-11 (quarter-final).
- Since the start of the 2015-16 season, this will be the 16th time that Real Madrid have played the second leg of a UEFA Champions League knockout stage tie at home. Of the previous 15, they’ve only been eliminated on one occasion (v Ajax in the last 16 in 2018-19), and progressed from the last eight in a row.
- Arsenal have scored an average of 2.55 goals and conceded 0.55 per game in the UEFA Champions League this season (28 scored, six conceded overall), with both of these being their second-best averages in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign, after the 2.63 scored in 2010-11 and 0.31 conceded in 2005-06.
Real Madrid vs Arsenal: Team news
Eduardo Camavinga will miss out on Wednesday’s game at the Bernabeu after receiving a second yellow at the end of the first-leg.
Aurelien Tchouameni is now available for selection after coming back from suspension and will be a presence that Madrid missed in their midfield in the first leg.
Dani Ceballos, who spent a year on loan at Arsenal, is set to return to Real’s squad and will be available for selection.
Ferland Mendy will not feature but is expected to return from his hamstring injury at the end of April.
Jorginho, who started for Arsenal against Brentford at the weekend, picked up a rib injury during the game and is unlikely to feature in Madrid.
Thomas Partey also picked up a knock during the Brentford game and is a doubt.
Ben White, who was rested against Brentford due to sustaining a knock in training, is expected to travel with the squad.
Arsenal’s summer signing Riccardo Calafiori picked up a recurring knee injury while on international duty with Italy and is still unavailable for selection.
- Despite averaging more possession (53.4%), Arsenal made 115 high-intensity pressures in the final third in the first leg of this tie. This was more than three times as many as Real Madrid, whose total of 36 was the lowest of any side across this season’s quarter-final first legs.
- Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé has been directly involved in eight goals in eight knockout stage games against English sides in the UEFA Champions League (seven goals, one assist), including five in four home outings (four goals, one assist).
- Currently on 28 goals and 21 assists, Vinícius Júnior could become the fourth different Real Madrid player to reach 50 goal involvements in the UEFA Champions League (after Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Raúl), which would be at least twice as many as any other team (Lewandowski and Müller for Bayern).
- In the first leg of this tie, Myles Lewis-Skelly became just the third English teenager to assist a goal in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage match. All three of those have done so while playing for Arsenal: Theo Walcott in 2008 (v Milan and Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2012 (v Milan) and Myles Lewis-Skelly in 2025 (v Real Madrid).
Real Madrid vs Arsenal: What has been said?
Arsenal boss Arteta has reflected on the possibility of another Real comeback.
He said, “We have to be focused on what we can do, what we control, and when the time comes, prepare the game because we know what to expect.
“Again, we’re going to have to earn it, just step up again and be even better than we were in the first game.”
When asked about a potential comeback, Real boss Carlo Ancelloti added: “We will try. It happened many times. We will try until the last minute.”
Real star Jude Bellingham also shared his thoughts after the first leg against Arsenal, saying: “We were nowhere near [our level], and Arsenal were really good.
“They could have had way more. We were lucky to get away with three. There is a second leg, that’s the thing we’re holding onto.
“We’re going to need something unbelievably special, something crazy.”
Real Madrid vs Arsenal: talkSPORT coverage
This Champions League clash will take place on Wednesday, April 16.
Kick-off at Santiago Bernabeu is scheduled for 8pm Uk time.
talkSPORT will have live and exclusive coverage from Madrid, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former England captain Stuart Pearce.
talkSPORT.com will also have regular updates throughout on our dedicated live blog.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
