Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal are ‘very capable’ of beating Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, although he recognises it will be ‘very difficult’ for them to do so.
The Gunners strolled into the last eight with a 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV over two legs of the last 16.
Arsenal killed the tie in the first leg by winning 7-1 in Eindhoven and a 2-2 draw in London on Wednesday night was a formality.
In contrast, it was a dramatic victory for Real Madrid over local rivals Atletico, needing a penalty shootout to progress after a 2-2 aggregate draw.
They may have scraped through, but the defending champions and 15-time winners of Europe’s top competition, will be favourites to beat the Gunners and make yet another semi-final.
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Arteta’s side are into the last eight of the Champions League in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 15 years, which is something he feels proud of and believes his team is ready to go further, even if the task at hand is a tough one.
‘We have to value that and recognise that it is very difficult to do it,’ said Arteta on successive quarter-final runs.
‘We’ve done it consistently, and now we want to make the next step, which is going to be very difficult, but we are very capable.’
On finding consistency at a high level, Arteta said: ‘Why is it important? Because we want to win.
‘You’re going to have to go through the stages, and because the club needs it. We are a club, a team, that wants to be the best and want to be competing with the best clubs in the world.
‘In order to do that, you constantly have to be there. And it’s very difficult, but we’ve done it for two years in a row and we have the capacity and the ability to do it even better.’
Declan Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko scored Arsenal’s goals against PSV on Wednesday night, with the Ukrainian already relishing the chance to face the Spanish giants in the next round.
‘Real Madrid are one of the biggest clubs in the world, they’ve won this competition 15 times, and they have a lot of world-class players and experience,’ he said. ‘But we just need to show our best performances, and we are all looking forward to these games.’
The 28-year-old has taken on Real Madrid in a big knockout game before, dramatically losing 6-5 over two legs in the 2022 semi-finals when he was at Manchester City.
City won the first leg 4-3 at home and were 1-0 ahead in Madrid before three very late goals won it for the home team.
‘Don’t remind me, please, it’s such a painful memory!’ Zinchenko said. ‘But it’s an amazing experience. Especially for myself, being at that age to play at this stage and to have this experience. I’m really grateful for that. The only thing I can say is you cannot relax until it’s done.
‘When you’re playing at this stage, you just need to be the best. If you want to win and achieve something, you need to be at your best level first and then you need to compete with the others.’
The first leg of the blockbuster quarter-final will be at the Emirates on 8 April before a trip to the Bernabeu for Arsenal the following week on 16 April.
The clubs have only ever met twice in Champions League history, with two legs in the round of 16 in 2006.
A Thierry Henry goal gave Arsenal a 1-0 win in Spain and then the Gunners held on for a goalless draw at home to progress.
Asked how Arsenal could potentially upset the odds this time, 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, especially 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.’
