Arsenal will face Real Madrid in the quarter-final of this season’s Champions League.
The Gunners finished their job against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night after battering them 7-1 in the first leg in the Netherlands.
Real Madrid had to work a lot harder as Atletico Madrid took them to penalties in the second leg of their Champions League clash. The Galacticos, controversially, ended up on the winning side.
Arsenal and Real Madrid are now set to face each other for just the third time in history, and Ben White’s worst fears may come true.
What Arsenal star Ben White previously said about Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr
Vinicius Junior is one of the best players in the world.
The Brazil international came very close to winning the Ballon d’Or last year. Many people still believe that he deserved to win it more than Rodri.
Vinicius is desperate to be in contention once again, and the Real Madrid star is having a good season under Carlo Ancelotti.
White, on the other hand, has had a difficult campaign at Arsenal due to injuries. He was sidelined for over three months, but he is back now.
The Englishman started against PSV on Wednesday night, but if his past comments are anything to go by, he doesn’t really fancy playing against Real Madrid, especially Vinicius.
In an interview with Ben Forster on Amazon Prime Video in October 2024, the Arsenal man was asked which side he would like to face in the Champions League final.
“Because I want to win it, probably someone not great, he said. “Yeah, half-time, 4-0 up or something like that and just play the rest of the game knowing that you are going to win.”
When Foster said that most other players would’ve picked a huge club like Real Madrid or Manchester City, White replied: “I do not want to play against Vinicius Jr! Yeah, no thank you.”
Should Ben White start when Arsenal face Real Madrid?
White was the best right-back in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season.
The Englishman played through pain more often than not, but he still produced several excellent performances for Mikel Arteta.
However, Jurrien Timber has taken over that role since White’s injury, and the Dutchman has been absolutely incredible at right-back.
White offers a much bigger overlapping threat than Timber, but we just can’t see a world in which the Netherlands international will be dropped for what will be Arsenal’s biggest game of the season.
We think Timber deserves to start ahead of White against Real Madrid next month.
