MIKEL ARTETA has urged his Arsenal stars to ignore Real Madrid’s ‘comeback’ narrative and do their talking on the pitch.
The Gunners will step out onto the Bernabeu turf with the Champions League odds firmly stacked in their favour – bringing with them a 3-0 quarter-final first-leg advantage.
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If statistics and pub quiz-style factoids won football matches, Arteta’s side would already be in the semi-finals.
The numbers are overwhelmingly positive.
On the previous 13 occasions Arsenal have headed into a second leg European tie with a three-goal cushion, they have progressed on every occasion.
Of the 11 previous English teams to have won a Champions League first-leg knock-out tie by three goals or more, all of them have advanced.
It has been 79 games since Arsenal last conceded three goals in a single match in all competitions – a 4-3 Prem win away at Luton in December 2023 – and the last time they lost a game 3-0 was nearly two years ago, at home to Brighton in the Prem in May 2023.
Of the 47 teams to go into the second leg of a Champions League knock-out match with a lead of three or more goals, only four of them have not advanced. That is just 8.5 per cent.
This second leg should be a mere exhibition, a formality, Arsenal’s procession into the competition’s final four for the first time since 2009.
And yet, there remains an air of doubt because they are playing Real Madrid – the 15-time European champions who have also earned the title of Champions League comeback kings.
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Their reputation of never knowing when they are beat is stuff of legend, making them one of the most feared beasts on the continent, no matter the context nor the scoreline.
Rumour has it the footballing gods bow down to Real Madrid.
The Spanish press know this, hence their intense propaganda machine over the past few days in an attempt to convince Arsenal that a comeback is not just possible but inevitable.
On the back page of every major outlet has been the phrase “Remontada”, meaning “comeback” in Spanish.
Arteta laughed: “It’s impossible [to block that out], but outside we can do it on the pitch.
“Now I understand that it’s the narrative that is going to give the fuel to them.
“We have tried to repeat the opposite message. So in the brain of the players, what they have here in the last 72 hours is something completely different.
“We are very close to them and hopefully that’s more powerful than anything else.
Arsenal ratings vs Real Madrid as Declan Rice’s free-kick thunderbolts earn him an ELEVEN out of 10
BEND it like Beckham? More like bend it like Declan…
It was a set-piece clinic from the Arsenal midfielder as he scored the first free-kicks of his career against Real Madrid – and the first player in Champions League history to score multiple direct free-kicks in the same knockout stage game.
Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save Real Madrid in a fast paced first half as he pulled off a fine double save to deny a Rice header and a follow-up effort from Gabriel Martinelli.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute as England star Rice whipped in a sensational free-kick.
Rice then sent the Emirates into the stratosphere with as he added a second with an even better free-kick from the left side of the goal which he rifled into the top right corner.
Mikel Merino then swept a devastating third into the bottom corner from a low cross to put the cherry on a remarkable night.
Rice’s epic showing was enough to earn him an unprecedented ELEVEN in our player ratings.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the rest of the Gunners…
“But you have to be out there, you have to experience it, you have to feel it and you have to go through it. That’s what we have to do.
“I understand [comebacks] are a part of their history and they have the right to be talking about these kinds of scenarios.
“Ours is very different and our mindset, preparation, our thoughts and how we’re going to have the best chance to be better than them in the aspects that are crucial.
“To prepare for a semi-final like this and be convinced that we can handle any situation and we’re going to enjoy actually playing any kind of game that we have to be thrown in.
“But we’re going to try to take the game to places very different to their intentions and if we do that we’re going to have a good chance to win the game.
“The first leg, that’s in the past. We have to prove it now in this context. And that’s the beauty of it. That’s the challenge and that’s the great thing about sports.
“We’ve shown that we are capable of doing it. Now, let’s talk on the pitch and do it on the pitch. It’s the only thing that matters.”
It would be natural for this Arsenal squad – one that is young and inexperienced – to perhaps fear the wave of noise and pressure coming their way in the Bernabeu.
This group have only experienced one other Champions League journey – last year’s progression to the quarters only to be knocked out by Bayern Munich in a gut-wrenching second leg in Germany.
Arteta argued: “I wouldn’t use that word [fear].
Mikel Arteta’s striker shopping list
By Jordan Davies
ARSENAL are stepping up plans to sign a world-class striker in the summer after their Champions League heartbreak.
Mikel Arteta splashed out £204.5m last summer on Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
But the Spanish manager accepts he needs a proven goalscorer to take the club to the next level.
And here are the players he is looking at to get the Gunners firing:
BENJAMIN SESKO (RB Leipzig, value £40m-£45m)
One for the future at 20 years old. Scored 16 goals for RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga last season and the Slovenian has carried on that good form in Germany with Leipzig this campaign.
VIKTOR GYOKERES (Sporting Lisbon, value £60m-£80m)
Been scouted several times this season. The Swedish striker, 25, is more of a traditional No 9 so may not suit Arsenal’s demand for flexibility but would bring a physicality that boss Mikel Arteta craves.
ALEXANDER ISAK (Newcastle, value £75m-£85m)
Impressed in his first two seasons in English football. The Swede, 24, has the pace and finesse to match his finishing ability, and Eddie Howe’s Toon may need to sell to balance the books this summer.
JOSHUA ZIRKZEE (Bologna, value £45m-£50m)
Dutch wonder is attracting the attentions of clubs across Europe. At 6ft 4in the 22-year-old forward would have no trouble adapting to the Premier League and already has an eye for goal.
XAVI SIMONS (RB Leipzig, value £70m-£80m)
An incredible talent in the Bukayo Saka mould, currently on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. The future of the Dutch attacker, 20, depends on how much money his parent club want to make from him.
“Respect, admiration for what they’ve done in the competition as a club over the years, the history they have, the values that they defend.
“Unbelievable. Amazing. And inspiration for any coach, any manager, any team. But after that is the competition.
“It’s what we are going to face tomorrow, an opposition that we know very well and that we are determined to go out there and try to win the game.
“When you have to create a story, when you have to build a story, first of all you have to be excited about it. Then you have to be really convinced about what you want to achieve.
“A lot of clubs have built their history by doing it many times, trying many times, sometimes failing, sometimes being successful.
“Last year we had an experience and we want to be better this season.”
