Arsenal are through to the Champions League quarter-finals after beating PSV comfortably in the Round of 16.
The Gunners beat PSV 9-3 on aggregate in their European tie, and they were fantastic over two legs.
Arsenal headed into the second-leg against PSV with a 7-1 lead, and that gave the Gunners scope to experiment.
Kieran Tierney started on the left wing, while Oleksandr Zinchenko started in an attacking midfield role, almost dovetailing as a central striker at times.
Zinchenko was solid against PSV, but according to Damien Delaney, speaking on Virgin Media Sports, the £35m man won’t cut it against Real Madrid in that position.
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Arsenal won’t beat Real Madrid if Oleksandr Zinchenko starts in attack
Delaney spoke about Zinchenko’s positioning against PSV and how Arsenal may do against Real Madrid.
The pundit doesn’t fancy Arsenal’s chances against Madrid, especially if Zinchenko is utilised in the same attacking role.
“Yeah, it’s a tall order especially when you have Zinchenko up the top, he was almost playing centre-forward. I know he scored his goal, but we’ve had Merino and Zinchenko there, that’s just not going to cut it at this level at the sharp end. They’re struggling in the Premier League with their attacking players, they just don’t have a strong enough squad to go much further,” Delaney said.
Oleksandr Zinchenko stats vs PSV
Zinchenko played in a much more advanced role against PSV on Wednesday evening, and while he was decent, he wasn’t quite at the level needed to beat a team like Real Madrid.
Yes, Zinchenko got on the scoresheet, but, all-round, his performance wasn’t that impressive, as the stats show.
| Oleksandr Zinchenko stats vs PSV | |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| Shots | 1 |
| Dribbles | 1 |
| Pass success rate | 72% |
Arsenal will need to be at the very top of their game against Real Madrid if they are to progress to the Champions League semi-finals, and, unfortunately, Zinchenko doesn’t quite fit the billing in that role.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures and with Arsenal in the midst of an injury crisis, they will have to use some makeshift tactics in the coming months to tide them over.
Zinchenko playing an attacking role in a big game is far from ideal, but the former Man City ace is a proven winner who has often stepped up on the big stages for Manchester City in the past.
Who knows? Perhaps Zinchenko could have a key role to play against Madrid next month.
