If Arsenal pull this off at Real Madrid, history will be made | OneFootball

Real Madrid will host Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabéu in a scenario that demands everything. The 3-0 lead built by the English side in the first leg — and not just the score, but the display as well — forces the Spaniards to accomplish something that is as unusual as it is intimidating: a four-goal victory if they are to stay in the Champions League. A draw is already sending the Gunners to the semifinals, and a two-goal defeat is fitting for them. The Madridistas' task is as easy as it is intimidating.

A heavier scoreline than it looks

The numbers inform us of how deep that pit is. Since the Champions League adopted its current format, Real Madrid have never managed to come back from a three-goal deficit in the first leg. And that's no small thing for a club that has built its history on great turnarounds and nights that touched on fiction. The Spanish team last came back from a hole of this size in the 1975/76 season, against Derby County, in the early European Cup days. And they are now facing a very different kind of Arsenal.

A team that is sustained by structure and maturity. In three previous encounters with Real Madrid, the English side has never lost, and never conceded a goal. It's a chilly, hard, and symbolic reality: the Gunners still haven't been breached by Los Blancos. And if they manage to repeat the feat this Wednesday, they will be setting a record as the first side to blank Madrid in four European top-flight games in a row.

Arsenal v Real Madrid - UEFA Champions League | Anadolu/GettyImages

Arsenal don't put the handbrake on

The superiority Arsenal possess wasn't handed to them. Arteta's side arrives with a goal average of 2.55 for and a paltry 0.55 against during Champions League football in this campaign. That's 28 scored, six conceded. Their attack is finely honed, but the defensive shape is what really jumps off the page. And what's more ominous about this is that Arsenal have a recent record of producing strong away performances. If they can secure the win at the Bernabéu, they'll match their longest away winning streak in the competition and guess what? The fourth win in that previous run was also in Madrid, in 2006. There's the feeling that they've learned their lessons from failures in the past and now journey as a force that knows where it is headed, and how to get there. That's what makes the job for Real Madrid even more challenging.

Arsenal FC v Real Madrid C.F. - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final First Leg | Visionhaus/GettyImages

What's Real Madrid left with?

Despite the odds being against them, nobody with any sense is going to write off Real Madrid. This team has developed the habit of turning the impossible possible.Since the 2015/16 season, they've welcomed the second leg of the knockouts 15 times. They won 14 of them. The only failure was against Ajax in 2019. In those situations, Bernabéu becomes an intangible force on their behalf. And the team still has players who can turn the situation around. Kylian Mbappé is the type of forward who shows up when the team most needs him. He's scored seven goals and one assist against English clubs in Champions League knockout games.

Four of them at home. Numbers that'll shake any defense. And Vinícius Júnior, seeking his 50th Champions League game for the club, is now one of Madrid's technical leaders. He has 28 goals and 21 assists this season. No wonder he is on his way to the elite club which includes players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, and Raul.