We Are Ready To Beat Real Madrid – Arteta Boasts
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has revealed that his team is ready to beat Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday in a 2024-25 Champions League clash.
The Gunners will battle it out with the defending champions in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier competition.
Arsenal have only made it to this stage of the competition just twice in the last 15 years, and they will be taking on a Real Madrid side that has won the competition six times since 2014.
Mikel Arteta’s team will be without the quartet of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Riccardo Calafiori, and Gabriel, who was ruled out for the season last week.
The Spanish coach admitted that they can’t control the injuries, but they are going for victory against the reigning champions of the competition.
Arteta said, “There are things that we cannot control. What they [Real Madrid] are going to prepare and what they can do. We have to focus, and our energy has to be on understanding our strengths, weaknesses, and the direction that we want to play in the game.
“Obviously the intention of the team is very clear: we want to achieve it on Tuesday, and we are going to go for it.
“It is 11 players and 60,000 people. I am really super convinced that we are ready to win and to beat them. That’s the mindset that I want.
“Be the team that we have been the last quarter of the season, with all the ups and downs and things that we have had to deal with. [We must] continue to do that because that’s our super strength.”
Arteta also revealed that the encounter against Real Madrid is his biggest night in management to date.
He said, “That’s why I came into football. That’s why I came into management and especially to this football club. It’s been 20 years since we had this type of game, and for us, it’s a great opportunity to build our own story, and this is what we’re here for.”
Asked whether tomorrow’s tie is his biggest night in management
Arteta added: “100 per cent. It’s a joy to prepare for the game, to look at them, just to look at the reaction of people and how we feel about ourselves coming into a game of that magnitude.
“The excitement around the club and the people – this is the stage that we want to be and where Arsenal has to be consistently. We are very proud to be there, and now we’re very ready tomorrow to deliver. This is proper now, the last stage of the proper team in the competition.”
He also urged his players to be wary of the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Rodrygo.
Arteta said, “With the individual qualities that they have, especially when you put them in certain situations, you know the danger that you are facing. But that’s the stage; it doesn’t get much bigger than that.
“What they’ve been doing in this competition is they can create those moments, and when it comes to the biggest stage, the individual performance of players can decide a game and is critical for your success, and that’s something that we have to prevent.”
Arteta also confirmed that Bukayo Saka will start against Real Madrid after coming off the bench in the 1-1 draw against Everton on Saturday.
Coincidentally, both teams failed to win in their domestic assignments on Saturday; Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Valencia.
We Are Ready To Beat Real Madrid – Arteta Boasts is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
