Arsenal can 'nick it' against Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, says Owen Hargreaves
Updated 05/04/2025 at 12:33 GMT+1
Arsenal face a tricky test in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final as they take on 15-time winners Real Madrid. Bukayo Saka is pushing to make a start after making a scoring return against Fulham on Tuesday. TNT Sports experts Owen Hargreaves, Steve McManaman and Joe Cole have given their views on the quarter-final and whether The Gunners can upset Carlo Ancelotti's Galacticos.
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Owen Hargreaves insisted that Arsenal's stubborn defence could be enough to see them edge past Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
The Gunners progressed to the last eight of the competition with a thumping 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV Eindhoven.
However, they are likely to face a sterner test against 15-time European champions Real Madrid, who came through a tight last-16 tie against rivals Atletico Madrid.
But TNT Sports expert and former Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves has stressed that Arsenal could "nick it" against Real Madrid, due to their imperious defence.
Arsenal had one of the best defensive records in the league phase of the Champions League as they conceded just three goals in eight games, a record bettered only by Internazionale, who let in one goal.
While they will be taking on Madrid without centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes, who has suffered a hamstring injury, Hargreaves said: "Arsenal could win. They’ve got a great keeper, their back four is one of the best in the competition. [They just need] two clean sheets and to nick one on the break."
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Joe Cole, meanwhile, added: "Arsenal are equipped in the sense that they are one of the best teams defensively left in the competition, and they have set-pieces."
Asked whether The Gunners could take anything from Atletico Madrid’s display against their city rivals in the last 16, TNT Sports expert Steve McManaman said: "I don’t think an English team can perform like Atletico, where they slow the game down, throw themselves on the floor and have the fans behind them.
"They always feel there’s an undercurrent that they are hard done by and they are the working-class side.
"They could take a bit of style from how they play, but Mikel Arteta wants to play possession-based football. Diego Simeone didn’t like to do that, he liked to get everybody behind the ball.
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"The big thing about Arsenal is [...] they haven’t got a centre forward to do damage and that will always hinder them.
"Madrid have had injury problems at the back but [David] Alaba’s back, [Toni] Rudiger is back, they’ve found Fede Valverde to go in at right-back, so actually they look stronger and are starting to get better at the right part of the season."
McManaman added: "The second leg is in Madrid and we have seen over the last few years that if they are in the game after the first leg they will get it done at home."
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Keown: Arsenal have a 'chance' against Madrid
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Keown: 'Don't discount Arsenal'
Martin Keown weighed in on Arsenal's chances on Saturday afternoon, ahead of The Gunners' trip to Everton, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
The former England international admitted that the tie could hinge on the performance of the attacking unit, but pointed to Real Madrid's supposed frailties at the back, having drawn 4-4 at home to Real Sociedad on April 1 in the Copa del Rey.
Ancelotti's team reached the cup final 5-4 on aggregate, but Keown believes the return of Bukayo Saka and the emergence of Ethan Nwaneri could spell trouble for the defending champions.
"It's about options in the final third," said Keown. "Martinelli, by the way, sitting on the bench [at Everton on Saturday], if that was an interview for Tuesday night, he was brilliant against Fulham in midweek, so I think he's in the door.
"Saka coming back, Nwaneri have been really good pluses. It's just that central area. I get what they're saying. Real Madrid, business end of the season, they turn up and have been quite magnificent, 15-time winners.
"But don't discount Arsenal. I watched Real Madrid against Real Sociedad shipping four goals. They can concede. It's not all happy in the Real Madrid garden, I can tell you. So Arsenal can exploit that.
"So let's see what happens. That first game at home, though, is really decisive. You've got to go for it."
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