Arsenal take on the visitors Real Madrid in the first leg of UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, April 8th at Emirates Stadium (London).
Arsenal may shift all focus to this tournament. Under their former captain Mikel Arteta, the Gunners have managed to firmly re-establish themselves among Europe’s elite. However, they still haven’t taken that final step to become the dominant force in English football. In both 2023 and 2024, Mikel lost the title race to his mentor, Pep Guardiola. This season, with Manchester City showing signs of decline, Arsenal ironically seem even further from the Premier League crown. Last spring, they fell just short of City by a couple of points — now they are trailing behind Liverpool and are barely holding on in the title conversation. They’ve also exited both domestic cup competitions, leaving the Champions League as their main hope for silverware. In the group stage, they were almost flawless, collecting 19 points with 6 wins — only Liverpool had a better record. In the Round of 16, they crushed PSV 7-1 on aggregate, though the second leg ended in a 2-2 draw after the tie had already been settled.
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Real Madrid always aims for the highest goals. Last season, they delivered in style, winning the Spanish Super Cup, La Liga, and the Champions League. They’ve already lifted two more trophies in 2024 — the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. However, there was a major setback in January with a heavy defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. Real have also struggled with consistency in La Liga — after briefly overtaking Barcelona in winter, a series of slips cost them the lead. The two sides are set for another high-stakes clash in the Copa del Rey final. In the Champions League, things haven’t been straightforward either — they suffered 3 defeats in their first 5 group matches. Momentum seemed to return with knockout wins over Manchester City and a 3-1 first-leg victory against Atletico Madrid. But they lost the return leg of the Madrid derby and only advanced thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout, where Alvarez’s miss proved decisive.
The only time these giants faced off in the Champions League knockout stage was back in 2006. Thierry Henry scored the only goal of the tie, giving Arsenal a famous win in Madrid. This is only the first leg, and both managers are known for their pragmatism in such high-stakes games. A solid bet would be on under 2.5 total goals.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
