Real Madrid and Arsenal will meet in the final on Wednesday at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. They’re hell bent on coming back from a daunting 3-0 deficit set from last week’s first leg at Emirates Stadium. The Spanish giants are the current European champions, and they know what’s at stake. They are hoping to pen a second fairytale chapter to their storied European past.
That first leg was particularly difficult for Los Blancos, who were soundly thumped by Arsenal. The team has been here before. As it stands, they’ve only ever lost the first leg of a European knockout tie by three or more goals on four other occasions in history. They’ve never been able to pull off a comeback as big as this one since the dawn of the Champions League.
Real Madrid enters the match feeling confident and determined. The players are pumped up the goin’ home for such a special night. Again, they have demonstrated unearthly strength in decisive games out there. The kick-off is scheduled for 20:00 BST, and fans are eager to witness whether the team can rise to the occasion.
Jude Bellingham, one of Real Madrid’s standout performers this season, sounded a confident note ahead of the match.
“It’s a night that’s made for Real Madrid. A night that would go down in history but also something that people are familiar with around this part of this world. Hopefully we can add another special night.” – Jude Bellingham
Bellingham is not one to take a game lightly. He thinks it provides the opportunity to do something never before done by the club’s name.
“Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to do something for the first time, so that’s really important to us.” – Jude Bellingham
Despite all the pressure, the mood within the squad is described mostly as confidence. Nervousness has left the chat. David Raya, the remaining lynchpin on the team, pointed out their focus to reproduce what they had done before. He emphasized that they refuse to be defined by past failures.
“The mood is not nerves. It’s confidence and being able to replicate what we did in the first game.” – David Raya
Raya said that was key—not worrying about other people’s gameplay and just concentrating on their own. Ultimately, they need to control what happens on the pitch and focus less on the things that they cannot influence.
“We cannot think about that. We have to think about ourselves and what we can control on the pitch.” – David Raya
Real Madrid prepare for a League quarter-final contest. They hope to go beyond the semi-final stage of their maiden Champions League run and argue they have proven their mettle in bouncing back from difficult times. Fans and players alike are motivated by the club’s deep European tradition. So too would be a change of fortune against the Gunners, and a performance to generate one of the all-time great home wins.
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