Thierry Henry has warned Arsenal there is no point evening turning up for the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid unless they harbour a genuine belief they can cause an upset.
The reigning European champions demonstrated their unrivalled staying power in a competition they have virtually monopolised in recent years by ousting rivals Atletico last night following a dramatic shootout.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost 1-0 on the night but held their nerve on penalties and, with a little help from VAR, made it through to the last eight where they will face the Gunners for the first time since 2006 in a competitive match.
Henry was part of the Arsenal side which overcame the odds 19 years ago when his incredible solo goal was enough to give Arsene Wenger’s side a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu, before a thrilling goalless draw at Highbury was enough to see the north London club through to a quarter final against Juventus.
Just as they were nearly two decades ago, Arsenal will start as significant underdogs and Henry insists even a perfect performance against Real over two legs may not be enough unless Mikel Arteta is able to foster a a belief that his side are more than a match for Carlo Ancelotti’s relentless Champions League winning machine.
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Asked how Arsenal could potentially upset the odds, Henry said: Believe that you can.
‘I’ve been in that situation with a team with a tiny bit less talent I will be honest when we drew Real Madrid everyone laughed, espeically in Spain.
‘If you there believing you cannot beat Real Madrid and they are already better than you, better team, better squad, they have 15 on the sleeve and we have none, you may as well not go and play if you don’t think you can beat them.
‘If you arrive in front of Real Madrid thinking let’s see what’s going to happen you might as well not go.
‘I do believe that you go into a game believing you can win this is what dreams are made of this is what you are thinking of.
‘I’ve seen Greece winning the Euros, I’ve seen Leicester winning the league just believe that you can that’s what I’m saying. Are you going to do it? That’s a different ball game.
‘Look at how Atletico beat them they played them more than well so many times and it still wasn’t enough. I’ve seen City play Real Madrid so many times, so well and it still wasn’t enough.
‘If you go there without the belief you can win stay at home. We’ve seen teams being good defensively, offensively, not in the tunnel, to beat Real Madrid you need the perfect game from minute one right when the referee blows the whistle.
‘It has to be the perfect game if you want to knock out Real Madrid. Even if you are perfect it might not be enough, now it’s on the team to show if they can do it at home and then away that’s a tough task.’
While Real were made to dig deep against their local rivals, Arsenal, by contrast, breezed through following last night’s 2-2 draw against PSV which secured a 9-3 aggregate victory.
‘The first thing is that you have to be at your best when it comes to that for the two games, for every minute,’ said Arteta when asked how he would approach the tie against Real.
‘Don’t give anything away, because they’re going to take it. And today, we’ve seen that with the two goals that we’ve conceded as well, so that’s a big learning.
‘In the end, the game is going to be decided in the boxes, individual talent, individual performances is crucial, and then creating an unbelievable atmosphere when we have the opportunity to play at home, that is crucial.’
Arsenal reached the quarter finals last season after 15-year absence before narrowly succumbing to Bayern Munich.
Asked what he had learned from that experience, Arteta added: ‘Last year we played Bayern, and with the history of those clubs and how consistently in the last 20-25 years being there, and we were riding there in the home game, we had them on the ropes.
‘They escaped and when we were there we were a bit short to get to that final stage. So hopefully we will learn we are better than then and we can make it happen.’
