Arteta says Arsenal can upset Real Madrid on ‘biggest night of career’

LONDON: Mikel Arteta has no doubt that Arsenal can upset Real Madrid on the “biggest night” of his career in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Gunners have never been crowned European champions and face the 15-time winners in a quarter-final at the Emirates on Tuesday with the return leg in Madrid next week. The two sides have met only twice in European competition, in the last 16 of the 2005/06 Champions League where Arsenal came out on top.

“It is 100 percent the biggest night of my career,” Arteta, in charge at the Emirates since 2019, told reporters on Monday. “That´s why I came into football, and that´s why I came into management and especially to this football club.”

The Spaniard, who also captained Arsenal, added: “It´s been 20 years since we had this type of game and for us, it´s a great opportunity to build our own story and this is what we´re here for.

“The excitement around the club, the people, and the magnitude of this match. This is the stage we want to be at, and where Arsenal has to be consistently. We are very proud to be there, and now be very ready tomorrow to deliver.

“At 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) tomorrow night, 11 players, 60,000 fans, I am really super-convinced that we are ready to win and to beat them. That´s the mindset that I want.” The Champions League represents Arsenal´s best chance of a trophy this season, with the Gunners 11 points adrift of leaders Liverpool in the Premier League.

Arsenal were beaten at the same stage of the Champions League last season by Bayern Munich. But Arteta, expected to start Bukayo Saka for the first time in more than three months on Tuesday, said it was time to write a new script.

“There is a massive gap there for so many years when nothing has happened in this football club in relation to European competitions,” he said. “And we need to change that, and we need to change that quickly. It is just the first leg, but the intention of the team and what we want to achieve tomorrow is very clear. We´re going to go for it.”

Jurrien Timber and Ben White, who played an hour in Arsenal´s 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday, are both set to be available, with Jakub Kiwior a possibility to line up alongside William Saliba in the absence of the injured Gabriel.