Arsenal will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League next week, and many believe Madrid are the favourites to win.
Los Blancos hold the record for the most Champions League titles and demonstrated their strength by overcoming a formidable Atlético Madrid side in the previous round. Their ability to thrive in high-pressure European fixtures makes them one of the most feared teams in the competition.
With Kylian Mbappé now among their ranks, Madrid are determined to retain the Champions League trophy, and they certainly have the squad capable of achieving that goal. Many Arsenal supporters might have preferred their team to face Atlético instead, but they must now take on the challenge of stopping Madrid. The question remains—can they do it?
If Real Madrid have all their key players available, Arsenal will face an immense challenge, the Spanish giants possess an experienced squad that knows how to navigate crucial fixtures, and their firepower in attack could prove overwhelming.
However, according to Marca, one of Madrid’s key players may be unavailable for the match due to an ongoing investigation into their celebrations after eliminating Atlético. The report suggests that the club are particularly concerned about Antonio Rüdiger, whose gesture during the post-match celebrations is reportedly considered the most controversial. While Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior are also under investigation, Rüdiger appears to be the player most at risk of receiving a ban.
Even if Rüdiger is ruled out, it would not significantly weaken Real Madrid. The Spanish giants boast one of the strongest squads in world football, and his potential replacement would still provide a high level of performance against Arsenal.
______________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Sadly whoever Real have in their team, I think that over the two legs they will have to much for us.
I hope I’m wrong, but it’s really hard to see any other outcome.🤷♂️
I agree Derek. Over two legs it’s not looking good. Madrid has so much firepower that’s just begging to get out especially against a weakened opponent. I hope that it’s not too ugly and that it doesn’t help put us into a tailspin for the rest of the PL season.
Excuses starting to creep in peeps ?
Our back 4 when we last went to Real was
Flamani , Senderos , Toure and Eboue
We had Cole , Campbell , Clichy and Lauren all missing so it can be done
If Real win over two legs it’s because they are better
We dont need to make excuses
Let them know, mate.
Let’s them know
Excuses for what? Different time & possibly a different outcome, although I will be delighted to be wrong.
It’s not just our defence that is shorthanded, but our forward line is makeshift as well.
What I do believe, is that talking down our chances is counterproductive. The Emirates should be a cauldron of noise and support on Tuesday.
The other day a fan wrote essentially what is all the fuss about with Real Madrid and when I said that was arrogant you questioned me ?
So which one is it ?
Likes of me get belittled for saying we are not good enough to win CL yet suddenly we lose one defender and it’s a excuse in case we lose ?
We will still have our first choice
GK , LB , CB , RB , Whole midfield , Saka ( fans were dismissed for saying his fitness would be an issue ) , LM and you in particular Sue said there was no one in January who could be a better option then Merino
So 9 first team players could start Tuesday
More then good enough to win
If not it won’t be because of injuries it will be they were better on the night
My issue Dan, was your use of arrogant and as far as I was concerned you didn’t and don’t generally use the word correctly, hence the confusion or misinterpretation
Fair play
And
I never said there wasn’t a better option, but that option didn’t exist in January
In my opinion it did Sue and results/ fact we are out of title race and both cups have proven that
Arrogance – having an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.
So it’s arrogant to suggest you have been proven right when in fact it’s purely your opinion. It’s not possible to be proven right. Had we signed a forward player and that forward player scored 10 + goals your assertion would have some validity but it would still mean that Liverpool would have to lose games to be caught and so far they haven’t.
Even with a fully fit squad or with this mythical forward player, there was no guarantee that we’d have beaten Newcastle in the Carabao Cup or that the 10 plus goals he scores between January and the end of the season would be winning goals. Unless, of course , you have been reading the tea leaves.
As for the RM game, your opinion that they are a better team may well be right on the night. You could still be wrong and that’s what cup competitions are all about
Who is LM?
No because I never said we can’t win
I simply said it’s arrogant for an Arsenal fan to look at Real Madrid ( the champions of Europe!) and say essentially what’s all the fuss about
If a Spurs fan said that about Real Madrid we would say that’s arrogant ?
We could win on Tuesday and I would still say Real deserve more respect then that
Think Real as a club , their players and manager have earnt respect
And for a fan of a club who for two decades have done little to look down on them is arrogant
It couldn’t be more a case of
Arrogance – having an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities
The irony being if we win on Tuesday you will rightfully say what an achievement it is
Yet you agree with a fan saying what’s all the fuss about ?
Again which one is it
I am not interested in what Vamos or whoever it was, said. If he thinks that about RM then that’s his business. Of course they deserve respect for what they have achieved, but that’s as far as it goes imo. He is positive about our chances – I’m not so much under the circumstances – but he was putting forward an opinion if I remember correctly. How is that arrogant?
I was referring to your reply to me where you claim that you have been proven right and I gave you the reason why it is only an opinion and nothing to do with being right because you have no way of knowing that you are right. That makes your remark appear rather arrogant. It is hardly a serious point, lol, but it does flag up to me that if you call people arrogant you then have to be squeaky clean yourself. That is what arrogance is. It is about oneself and not having a view on the record of Real Madrid.
Disagree results since January have proven me correct
I don’t know how you can say we dont know if it will cost us the title race or Cups when we are out of the title race and cups ?
You could not have been more wrong about January
It cost us everything
Nope and you are being melodramatic. You can disagree with me all you like as I disagree with you on this subject.
It was pretty obvious that losing Jesus mid January was a the straw that broke the camel’s back. Other clubs that were looking to strengthen (and there was nothing to suggest that Arsenal were) had already signed or were in the process of signing players. We disagreed on the truth of the offer for Watkins which I think was genuine until the other bloke went to Saudi and the price for Watkins was deemed too much. I can debate with you that we still had Havertz at that stage and then losing him was probably the straw that broke several camels’ backs.
As for being out of every race except the CL, I stand by what I wrote. At the time, and I can only go by that yardstick, we were in the Carabao Cup and lost to the eventual winners. My point being that even if we had beaten Newcastle, there was no guarantee we would win against Liverpool in the final. Having a replacement for Jesus could not possibly have guaranteed a win. Neither could a replacement in January have guaranteed that we could get enough points to overtake Liverpool in the league.
As for NOW, then the league is over and we didn’t get past Newcastle so couldn’t win the CC
Not melodramatic at all
Your literally the only Gooner I have seen or heard that thinks January didn’t cost us in the title race
While everyone is entitled to their opinion results don’t lie I’m afraid
There were options available better then Merino , a teenager and some left backs as attackers
Again I’m puzzled how anyone without an agenda can defend January when since the window opened we got knocked out of FA Cup ( most would say we missed chances ) got knocked out of Carabo Cup ( didn’t score in either leg ) and in the Prem fall 12 points behind league leaders but in your opinion……we don’t know if January went well or not ?
Sorry to be late back to your comments
I think that the injuries throughout the previous months have cost us the title, not the non signing of a forward. And, more important to me as an Arsenal supporter for more than 60 years, I do not have an agenda.
Well our manager disagrees
He too said we were short in attacking areas and needed help
Saka and Jesus were injured by end of January so you thought Havertz , Trossard and Martinelli were going to win us the title?
I have never said they would win us the title. What is your problem? There was absolutely no guarantee that signing Watkins or a-another attacker would have made up the ground that was already lost. I am surprised that you cannot see that
I see the Real Madrid players were fined and had a one game suspended suspension in Mbappe’s case.
Yes, slap on the wrist. Thats all it was ever going to be.
Your right
We will never know if saying getting an attacker would have won us the title but we knew ( well most of us ) that doing nothing would mean we wouldn’t catch Liverpool
By suggesting that nothing was out there in January better then what we had suggests you think that was enough to challenge
If you don’t think that then surely you agree January cost us ?