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Do Arsenal Have What it Takes to Beat Real Madrid?
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Do Arsenal Have What it Takes to Beat Real Madrid?

Do Arsenal Have What it Takes to Beat Real Madrid?

With yet another narrow win on Tuesday against eliminated FA Cup quarter-finalists Fulham, Arsenal once again illustrated why they have been contending near the top over the last two and half seasons.

Yes, the football is at times dull, and yes, at times there is a distinct lack of goal threat thanks to their lack of out and out striker. But Mikel Arteta has embraced those perceived negatives, and has turned his side into a very tricky proposition, for any team.

Makeshift striker Mikel Merino, who has now netted five in his last eight games for the club despite naturally being a central midfielder, netted the opener against Fulham, and Bukayo Saka, fresh from a 101 day absence due to a hamstring injury sustained in December, received the loudest cheer of the night as he doubled the scoreline with 15 minutes left.

While they were able to nab a stoppage time goal, Marco Silva’s side were rarely on top in the game, instead spending their time chasing shadows of where the ball was seconds previously.

The win moves them four points clear of Nottingham Forest, who beat Man United on the same evening, and they kept the gap to leaders Liverpool to nine points, just about keeping their title aspirations alive.

Saturday will see the Gunners travel to Goodison Park for the last time before Everton move to their brand new Bradley-Moore Dock ground, and they will be desperate to make it as stress free as possible.

That is because, just three days later, they host Carlo Ancelloti’s Real Madrid, conquerors of Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in their two rounds of knockout games, in the first leg of the quarter final stage.

There is no doubting the talent of both Arteta and his squad, but going head to head with a five time Champions League winning coach, as well some players with similar numbers, this is a fixture that will show where exactly Arsenal lie amongst Europe's elite.

Do they have what it takes to cause a shock? What does Arteta need to do in order to make the Spanish Behemoths uncomfortable? And what effect will the loss of key players be on Arteta’s team heading into this Champions League clash?

Can they dominate a game against Real Madrid?

Arsenal are accustomed to controlling the tempo of a game; they enjoy having the ball at their feet, particularly around the backline, and when they lose it, they have a well organised high press, intent on winning the ball back as soon as it is lost.

They boast an average of 55% possession across Premier League games this season, and posted a slightly lower average of 52.4 in their Champions League games so far.

However, Real Madrid pose a gargantuan challenge, one far superior to PSV Eindhoven, whom Arsenal spanked 9-3 on aggregate in the last 16. Ancelloti’s side accommodates some of the world's best footballers, with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and of course Kylian Mbappe some of the deadliest attackers on the planet.

Arsenal have dealt with excellent attacking lineups before, able to match a Mo Salah led Liverpool in a 2-2 draw early in the campaign, and they pushed a Bayern Munich side complete with Harry Kane all the way at this stage last season.

However, they have not posted any wins from these fixtures, instead drawing two and losing the second leg against the German juggernauts. This is largely down to the lack of experience Arteta’s players have in these scenarios. They simply haven’t taken part in as many high stakes games as their opponents, and that statement can ring no more true than when referring to Real Madrid.

And Real Madrid are shaping up nicely ahead of this one. On the same evening as Arsenal’s win over Fulham, Los Blanco’s once again flexed their knockout credentials with a dramatic win over Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey.

Trailing 4-3 after 90 mins (4-4 on aggregate), Don Carlo raised his eyebrow, and like so many times before, reaped almost immediate rewards, as Antonio Rudiger netted in the 115th minute to help his side reach their 41st final in the competition, where they will face either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid who sit tied at 4-4 after a pulsating first leg.

Madrid sent a message to Arsenal with yet another dramatic ending to a two legged-tie, and Arteta will be aware that in the Champions League, it is more common practice than not to see Real Madrid overcome a deficit to somehow triumph.

And to make the task even taller, the Gunners will host Real Madrid with a significant list of absences.

How will Injuries affect the game?

Less than 20 minutes into their victory over Fulham, Arsenal had lost one of the Premier League’s finest defenders in Gabriel Magalhaes, who went down heavily clutching his hamstring after a fast paced chase towards his own goal.

Subbed off immediately, the Brazilian centre-back went straight down the tunnel, no doubt to assess the severity of the injury in the knowledge that he could miss a clash with Europe’s most successful side.

While no details about the injury have been confirmed yet, the heaviness of Gabriel’s limp as he left the field indicated to most that whatever had gone wrong with his hamstring was not insignificant, and it has left Arteta with a gaping hole to fill in his defence.

Fortunately, the other half of Arsenal’s formidable defensive wall, William Saliba, remains fit, and just needs to get through the game with Everton if he is to guarantee availability for the Real Madrid fixture. However, Arsenal face the issue of who to put alongside him.

Takehiro Tomiyasu would be amongst the first choice replacements, but after undergoing knee surgery in February, the Japanese international is still sidelined, and won’t be available for the rest of the season.

Jurrien Timber, one of Arsenal’s standout defenders in the opening months of the season, would be a more than suitable replacement, but he also left the field against Fulham with what appeared to be another knee injury. While his return could come soon, Real Madrid could prove too soon.

And with Riccardo Calafiori also out, once again with a knee injury, Arsenal’s list of defenders is looking depleted, with Jakub Kiwior, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Keiran Tierney their only fit back-liners.

Kiwior is the only natural centre-back out of the three, but his lack of gametime due to the form of Gabriel and Saliba will affect the way the entire team plays. They will be less confident, more tentative, and it will take a bit of time for the Pole to get up to speed with what Arteta is trying to do ahead of this clash.

However, Gabriel’s injury doesn’t just affect Arsenal in defence. The Brazilian has become an unexpected goal threat, and has been at the centre of the discussion surrounding Arsenal’s expert corner routines, netting five times from such scenario’s this season.

With his sudden removal from proceedings, Arteta has had his greatest weapon blunted, and he now only has a week to work out another way to break Real Madrid’s talented backline.

What can Arteta do to adjust?

With a throw-together backline, Arteta appears to be in need of a miracle if his side are to keep a clean sheet against a rampant Real Madrid attack.

At the other end of the pitch though, Saka’s goalscoring return from injury will have given the entire squad a huge lift, and as long as the Englishman stays fit ahead of their clash with the Spaniard’s, the squad will know they enter their quarter-final with the star player fit and firing.

Saka is renowned for his excellent service; in fact, despite being injured for over three months, Saka boasts 13 assists, five more than Arsenal’s next best creator in Declan Rice. Fans will be fascinated to see how he links up with Merino playing up top, a position he only started filling regularly well into Saka’s injury absence.

If Arteta can get his right side firing in the trip to Everton, then Saka will relish in tormenting one of Francisco Garcia or David Alaba, with the winger’s excellent dribbling capable of turning any full back in the world inside and out.

However, Saka will need support on the right hand side, and with Timber now injured, Arsenal have a distinct lack of forward thinking full backs.

The best option would be Jakub Kiwior, who is accomplished on playing across the backline. But he is a defensively minded fullback at the best of times, and wouldn’t offer much in attack. Their other options would be shifting one of Zinchenko and Tierney into the vacant space, but as natural left-backs, they would struggle positionally, and would be close to ineffective in attack.

With Kiwior the likely choice to take Timber’s spot, it leaves a gaping hole in central defence with no natural replacement.

Arteta will likely shift defensive midfield Thomas Partey backwards, as the Ghanaian has filled in there a couple of times before, leaving Jorginho as the obvious choice to take Partey’s spot in midfield, perhaps moving into a more offensive position allowing Declan Rice to revert to his defensive duties.

However, it is far from Arsenal’s strongest lineup, and with Jorginho and Kiwior’s lack of playing time combined with Partey’s relative lack of familiarity with centre back, it could be a long night for Arsenal.

They have the talent to pull off a result. But most of that talent is injured, and it is looking increasingly like they will be relying on miraculous recoveries ahead of the second leg.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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