The Champions League quarter-finals get underway on Tuesday night, and Arsenal are preparing for a mouthwatering last-eight showdown with Real Madrid.
Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti will go head-to-head on the touchline for the first time since the latter was in charge of Everton, as the Gunners look to make home advantage count in the first leg at Emirates Stadium.
It could be a momentous night in North London; here’s our pick of the stats to preview the action.
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19 years later…
It’s been almost two decades since the only previous meetings between Arsenal and Real Madrid, in the last 16 of the 2005/06 Champions League – before two Gunners starlets who ought to be involved on Tuesday, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, were even born.
Thierry Henry’s stunning solo effort in the first leg at the Bernabeu proved to be the only goal of the tie, and the Gunners ultimately went on to reach their first Champions League final – where they were beaten by Barcelona.
Arsenal have only made it as far as the semi-finals once since then – in 2008/09 – and as they look to do so again, they’ll probably want to forget about one rather ominous stat: Madrid have knocked out English opposition in the quarter-finals in each of the last four Champions League campaigns.
Arsenal’s continental fortress
Arsenal haven’t lost any of their last 16 home European games in 90 or 120 minutes, with their only defeat of any form during that run coming on penalties against Sporting Lisbon in the 2022/23 Europa League last 16.
By those criteria, the Gunners are on their longest home unbeaten run in Europe since between 2004 and 2009: 27 matches including qualifiers. However, 10 of those 27 were played at Highbury, meaning avoiding defeat to Madrid will see them equal their longest European unbeaten stretch at Emirates Stadium.
Are Madrid stuttering?
It’s a mark of Real Madrid’s outrageous consistency under Carlo Ancelotti that they’ve just gone two games without winning inside 90 minutes for only the third time this season. Los Blancos suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat to struggling Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday, four days after beating Real Sociedad 5-4 on aggregate following a thrilling 4-4 draw after extra time in the Copa del Rey.
You have to go back to March 2023 for the last time Madrid went three matches without recording a victory inside 90 minutes – and, well, this one can’t go to extra time.
