Real Madrid vs Arsenal Preview

Real Madrid will look to secure a historic comeback when they welcome Arsenal to the Santiago Bernabéu for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

The Spanish giants suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in the first leg at the Emirates, complicating their chances of defending the title they won last season.

They did at least get back to winning ways this past weekend with a 1-0 victory over Alavés – a first success in four competitive games (D1, L2) – but that game was overshadowed by Kylian Mbappé being sent off in the first half. The attacker will be able to feature here at least, which is a boost as Madrid will need as much firepower as they can get to overturn the deficit.

The La Liga giants have overturned a first-leg away defeat 25 times in this competition, winning on the last three such occasions. However, they must be fearing that run ending here, having seen their last three Champions League eliminations come at the hands of Premier League opponents.

Meanwhile, Arsenal followed their special first-leg win in North London with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Brentford that means Liverpool can secure the Premier League title in the coming days. Despite that disappointing result, the Gunners remain undefeated in nine matches (W4, D5).

It’s possible Mikel Arteta’s men had half an eye on this clash with a possibility of reaching their first Champions League semi-final since 2009 in sight. Their record of six victories in their last eight games against La Liga opponents (D1, L1) should boost belief heading to the Bernabéu.

The hosts did most of the hard work in this tie at the Emirates and having prevailed from 18 of 20 European ties in which they won a home leg first, they have a strong history of seeing the job through.

But the fact both exceptions came against La Liga sides (Valencia 2000/01 and Barcelona 2010/11) offers a note of caution. Still, neither came on the back of holding a dominant lead of three or more goals, and they did win here on their only visit in 2006 courtesy of a famous Thierry Henry goal.