After negating their last-16 match with relative ease, Arsenal will now face Real Madrid in a blockbuster double-header in the Champions League.
Arsenal haven’t faced Real since Thierry Henry scored a famous solo-goal in a 1-0 win for Arsene Wenger’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu back in 2006.
The Gunners progressed from that tie to eventually reach the final, only to then be cruelly denied by Barcelona.
Of course, it would have been an extremely difficult task for Mikel Arteta’s side to beat Real this time around even with his whole squad fully fit.
But with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus definitely missing next month, the odds are currently stacked firmly in favour of Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Antonio Rudiger was impressed by William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes
That being said, Real did need to rely on penalties to get past Atletico Madrid in the last-16, which will perhaps give Arsenal some confidence.
Former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger was the man to step up to score the winning penalty for Real to see them through to face Arsenal.
And it is therefore interesting to revisit some comments Rudiger made about two of Arsenal’s defenders last year, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Rudiger was speaking on ‘The Inside Scoop’ and said that both Arsenal defenders were doing an ‘amazing’ job for Arteta.
Rudiger said: “You see Arsenal, the two centre-backs who play together have been doing an amazing job for two years now.
“The transformation between the current Arsenal and the one before – those two are the pillars of it.
“Gabriel is more of an aggressive leader and Saliba – this brother plays clean! You have to give it to him and he looks like a silent leader, you know?”
Antonio Rudiger’s record against Arsenal
As mentioned, Arsenal haven’t faced Real in a long while, but Rudiger has often duelled with the Gunners in a Chelsea shirt.
The German has actually faced Arsenal on nine occasions, winning three of five games he played against them in the Premier League.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | |
| Premier League | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Community Shield | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| League Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Of course, Arteta is probably going to be more worried about the threat of Real’s frontline: Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.
Arsenal were linked with a move for Mbappe before he moved to Real last summer, a move that Wenger tried to make many years prior.
It’s set up for a fascinating tie, and Arsenal will hopefully have Bukayo Saka ready, which will be a crucial factor.
