The Champions League quarter-finals get underway on Tuesday evening, and Arsenal are getting ready for a mouthwatering last-eight showdown with Actual Madrid .
Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti will go head-to-head on the touchline for the primary time for the reason that latter was accountable for Everton, because the Gunners look to make house benefit depend within the first leg at Emirates Stadium.
It might be a momentous evening in North London; right here’s our choose of the stats to preview the motion.
19 years later…
Thierry Henry celebrates after scoring what stays the one objective thus far between Arsenal and Actual Madrid (Picture credit score: Alamy)
It’s been nearly 20 years for the reason that solely earlier conferences between Arsenal and Actual Madrid, within the final 16 of the 2005/06 Champions League – earlier than two Gunners starlets who must be concerned on Tuesday, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, have been even born.
Thierry Henry’s gorgeous solo effort within the first leg on the Bernabeu proved to be the one objective of the tie, and the Gunners in the end went on to succeed in their first Champions League remaining – the place they have been overwhelmed by Barcelona.
Arsenal have solely made it so far as the semi-finals as soon as since then – in 2008/09 – and as they appear to take action once more, they’ll in all probability need to overlook about one fairly ominous stat: Madrid have knocked out English opposition within the quarter-finals in every of the final 4 Champions League campaigns.
Arsenal’s continental fortress
Arsenal drew 2-2 with PSV to finish a complete 9-3 mixture win within the final 16 (Picture credit score: Alamy)
Arsenal haven’t misplaced any of their final 16 house European video games in 90 or 120 minutes, with their solely defeat of any type throughout that run approaching penalties in opposition to Sporting Lisbon within the 2022/23 Europa League final 16.
By these standards, the Gunners are on their longest house unbeaten run in Europe since between 2004 and 2009: 27 matches together with qualifiers. Nonetheless, 10 of these 27 have been performed at Highbury, which means avoiding defeat to Madrid will see them equal their longest European unbeaten stretch at Emirates Stadium.
Are Madrid stuttering?
Vinicius Junior’s objective could not forestall Actual Madrid from dropping to Valencia final day out (Picture credit score: Alamy)
It’s a mark of Actual Madrid’s outrageous consistency underneath Carlo Ancelotti that they’ve simply gone two video games with out profitable inside 90 minutes for under the third time this season. Los Blancos suffered a shock 2-1 house defeat to struggling Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday, 4 days after beating Actual Sociedad 5-4 on mixture following an exhilarating 4-4 draw after additional time within the Copa del Rey.
You need to return to March 2023 for the final time Madrid went three matches with out recording a victory inside 90 minutes – and, properly, this one can’t go to additional time.
