Arsenal second leg ‘a night made for Real Madrid’

Jude Bellingham believes the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal on Wednesday is “a night made for Real Madrid”.

The reigning European champions are aiming to overturn a 3-0 deficit from last week’s first leg in which they were well beaten at Emirates Stadium.

But Madrid midfielder Bellingham is confident his side can turn the tie around at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (20:00 BST) and add another chapter to the club’s illustrious European history.

“I’ve heard it a million times since last week, I’ve seen a million videos – it’s really motivating stuff,” the England international told a media conference on Tuesday.

“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.”

Real Madrid have lost by three or more goals in the first leg of a European knockout tie on five previous occasions.

The only time they came from behind to progress was in the 1975-76 European Cup, when they recovered from a 4-1 defeat by Derby County in the last 16 to win 5-1 at home and go through 6-5 on aggregate.
They have never achieved a comeback of this scale in the Champions League era – but Bellingham believes they can rise to the challenge at home.

“There’s not a lot you can do for Real Madrid in the Champions League that hasn’t already been done,” the 21-year-old said.

“Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to do something for the first time, so that’s really important to us.”

Bellingham’s England team-mate Declan Rice was the Arsenal hero last Tuesday, scoring two of Arsenal’s goals with brilliant free-kicks.

Rice had never scored a free-kick in a professional match, and Bellingham said he was taken aback.
“The free-kicks were surprising,” he said. “I knew Declan could take set-pieces well, corners and stuff, but I’d never seen him do that. Fair play to him.”

‘We’re here to create our own history’

Arsenal are aiming to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009, with the winners of this tie facing Paris St-Germain or Aston Villa.

Gunners goalkeeper David Raya said the team were feeling calm.

“The mood is great,” he told a news conference in Madrid. “The mood is not nerves. It’s confidence and being able to replicate what we did in the first game.

“We’re here to create our own history.”

Raya also said Arsenal were unconcerned by the hostile atmosphere at the Bernabeu.

“That’s something that we cannot control – the fans, the stadiums and the atmosphere,” he said. “We cannot think about that. We have to think about ourselves and what we can control on the pitch.

“Luckily we have faced a lot of good players in the Premier League. We know how good at attacking Madrid are. We just have to see it as another game. Be focused on ourselves and ready for anything that can happen.”

By BBC Sports