Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, said, the Gunners are geared up to emerge victorious over Spanish giants, Real Madrid, when they clash in the European match on Tuesday night.
The Spanish head coach said, “we are ready to win and to beat them.”
He made the statement at his press conference ahead of the UCL match against the Los Blancos.
Arsenal will lock horns with Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League quarter final first leg at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday 8 April, 2025 at 20:00 (WAT).
Arteta revealed, he has decided on a replacement for defender, Gabriel Magalhaes, adding, Bukayo Saka who recently returned to action for the English side is good to field against Madrid.
According to arsenal.com, at his press conference, Arteta said:
On if everyone is available following the weekend:
“Yeah, looks like it. We have another training session this afternoon, but Ben finished the game. We had to stop him over time because he hasn’t played much football, but he was fine after the game. And with the rest, they went through the game and they were able to do some bits yesterday and ready to train today.”
On if he’s decided how to replace Gabriel:
“Yes, we’ve decided.”
On if the Gunners need a special effort to get the result:
“8pm tomorrow night, 11 players, 60,000 people need to be really super convinced that we are ready to win and to beat them. That’s the mindset that I want. The rest is be the team that we’ve been over the last quarter of the season. With all the ups and downs and things that we have to deal with, we need to continue to do that because that’s our super strength.”
On if Saka is fit enough to start:
“He’s in a much better place. Gradually, we have built his minutes in the last six or seven days. He’s coped with that really well and he’s in a good place to be able to be used.”
On if it’s his biggest night in management:
“100%. It’s a joy to prepare 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 this magnitude. The excitement around the club, 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.”
On the importance of going to Madrid with a lead on aggregate:
“It’s very important but it will be just the first leg as you mentioned. The intention of the team is very clear. We want to achieve tomorrow and we’re going to go for it.”
