Real Madrid vs Arsenal UCL Knockout Round 21 Feb [R]

Umm. lets see in the last two seasons the underdogs have won the champions league i.e porto and liverpool. aswell as greece lifting the european cup. if we are going to talk about bias i read taht THE ENGLISH think barca will beat chelsea. yeah real madrid tv have some really realistic scores like 4/5 goals and all these ppl on this site comin up wiht ronaldo will atleast score a hattrick in both games.come on lets be realistic here. Arsenal are going to do what liverpool did and defend for their lives. if that is scappy who cares!

And radium iv also read on the arsenal site euro watch sayin real madrid get thrashed 6-1 by real zaragoza. zidane and guti maybe playin well atm but they wont be doing it every game.

listen ppl it is not the same in the champions league as it is in the domestic league. teams are more packed in the champions league and if ppl think its going to be a walk in the park then seriously start watchin some champions league football. regardless arsenal will qualify but barca to lift the cup!

 

ok putting demise aside ppl cuz theres no use arguing whos gonna beat who we jus hav to wait for the game .. ne1 here hav ne ideas wat line up were thinking of and ne news on becks he did look like he was injured last game

 

people... just ignore the troll. Let him post whatever he wants. If that makes him sleep better... post on

Anyway. Back to the adult discussion. For those who watched the match against Alaves, did Beckham and cicinho seem like they were hurt? Beckham was smiling on the bench so it shouldn't be too serious

 

I warned you guys earlier about that guy on this threads page 10.... just put him on ignore till the 22nd.....

 

I saw the match and no they weren't injured. I was surprised Caro didn't take Beckham out in the intermission when Real was leading 2-0. With his back it's a good idea to rest him as much as possible before Arsenal.

 

Arsenal : How we can beat Real Madrid

Arsenal fans and players alike are enjoying one of those great rarities in modern football: a whole week with no matches. This week of reflection could prove exactly what is needed to gear the players up for possibly the season's biggest match to date: Real Madrid away.

When a side is playing at something like its best, it is often said they cannot wait for the next game. The reverse, surely, is also true. With bad results currently arriving about as frequently as David Cameroon slating Labour, a few days off to analyse what is going wrong, and how to rectify it in the immediate future, are extremely welcome. Additionally the lack of squad depth means there are some very wary legs indeed.

Our problems, depressingly, seem to stem from everywhere along the pitch - except the immaculate Jens Lehman. Arsenal’s defence is not one you would expect to keep Real Madrid under any sort of control. Senderos and Toure may be able to do a job in the centre of defence, at a push, but it is on the flanks where Real Madrid will aim to make the most of their band of jaw-dropping attacking talent. In particular I dread to think what David Beckham, though not fully fit, will do to our eighth left-back of the season, Mathieu Flamini. The only thing in Flamin’s favour is Beckham rarely goes past people, but one suspects he may get some devastating crosses in.

Despite the week off, it is unlikely any injured players will be fully fit for Real. This means no Reyes, who should nonetheless make the return match, no van Persie and no regular left-back - Messrs Cole and Clichy are still not back. The absence of Adebayor, who is cup tied, does not really bother me if I’m honest. Though he has shown promise in his three games so far, I very much doubt he is ready for such a crucial game.

The lack of other alternatives mean Dennis Bergkamp is likely to take the boat to Madrid. Although his age is obviously a huge factor now, he is still a man who is worth starting against Madrid. His love of dropping deep and the ‘killer ball’ could prove decisive in releasing the likes of Henry in behind Real’s porous defence.

Madrid, though currently enjoying a spell of wonderful form, always have the capacity to self-destruct, particularly in front of their home fans. An early goal in Spain would totally shift the complexion of the tie completely, and open up some of Real‘s frailties. Although their form is excellent, they were slaughtered 6-1 by Real Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey just 10 days ago.

Rumour has it that Wenger plans to release Theo Walcott at some stage against the world’s richest club. Why not? Walcott has the capacity to cause more damage in half an hour than the predictable Pires and Ljunberg combined. Given the fact he would have little expected of him, one would hope he could display the same fearlessness that earned him the tag of ‘world’s most expensive 16 year-old.’

Bearing in mind both the aforementioned seem in terminal decline, it is also worth giving Alexsander Hleb a rare start. Pace is the best way through Real’s defence, and we cannot rely only on our skipper who is so prone to sulkiness when it doesn’t appear his day.

Clearly, we go into the two-legged tie as underdogs. But the fact so much rides on it must be a good thing. Equally, we have tended to bow out in Europe when great things are expected of us - when the reverse is true, it may just bring out the best in us. A lot - possibly too much - will depend on Thierry Henry, but his majestic showing in Arsenal’s greatest ever European win, the 5-1 destruction of Inter Milan in the San Siro, ought to provide him with some sort of confidence.

My feeling is Madrid will score in both legs. Therefore we must go to Spain with attacking inclinations, and aim to exploit the less than galactico defence. We cannot go to Madrid with as negative a mindset as against Liverpool. Wenger must tell the side to express themselves and relish the opportunity of a match-up we have all been awaiting for so long.

The tension of the tie will be added to by an intriguing set of sub-plots. Real’s poaching of Nicolas Anelka seven years ago still angers many fans, although we should be grateful Madrid were willing to fork out as ludicrous a sum as £23million. Meanwhile Madrid have hardly been discreet over their long-time desperation to recruit Arsene Wenger, something we are likely to see re-surfaced (yawn) in the summer. Fortunately, Wenger is not the sort who takes orders from rich men pretending to know lots about football - aka Florentino Perez. There is also Real’s desperation to bring Jose Reyes and Ashley Cole to the Bernabaua, as well as Arsenal’s failed attempts at signing both Robinho and Julio Baptista over the summer.

It is probably asking too much of Arsenal to ‘do a Liverpool’ and win the European Cup despite some abysmal league form (though only in relation to the title-challenging we have grown accustomed to during Wenger’s tenure.) But victory over Real Madrid, a side we have been eyeing up for so long, would provide some solace from such a traumatic season.

http://extratime.corporalcarrot.co....l&id=1140292683&archive=&start_from=&ucat=40&

 

I doub the Arsenal fans are enjoying it.

Funny how they single out Becks who isn't really more dangerous than Guti, ZZ or Robinho.

Finally some tactical insight... The guy clearly hasn't bothered to research a bit, no inkling about how to use the wings -our backline's weak point, specially the left. Nothing about pressing in midfield to force Guti to help Gravesen and stay away of the AM position. IMO the key for them is the ability of their CMs to press our midifield.

Desperation?????

 

Well, Guti, ZZ and Robinho don't play left-back. Seriously, though, if they're that worried about Beckham, that's great. It mean they'l mark him tightly and just give Cicinho more space.

 

Demise i really meant it when i said ronaldo will score atleast one hattrick. u need to get your head checked as you are being biased by singling out the 6-1 loss and not talking about the 4-0 second leg victory

 

Actually im not being biased and i dnt like to be biased. when i was statin the 6-1 i wanted to show u that real madrid are a star studded squad, however any performance like that against arsenal and real madrid will be damaged. real madrid with their squad are expected to win every game! but they dont cos they are beatable! ronaldinho tormented the real madrid defence and i hope henry will do the same

tuesday is not far away. but rememeber its two legs and then we will see. im not going to comment anymore about the game until after tuesday and then after the game at highbury.

back to what i have been sayin before. dnt come up wiht no unrealistic scores. people hear think its gonna be a walk in da park.

the game is two days away and this is the last u will hear from me till after the game.

 

ohh please, do follow your word.

 

yeh demise please dont speak
people in the arsenal board will enjoy you more

 

he he...and cicinho will simply kill em. that guy right now is in awesome form.

 

wow! what a game and i cant wait. i have even decided not to sell my ticket for the return legs in a couple of weeks time (liverpool vs benfica) so i can watch real run riot at highbury.
in my eyes i see us as major favourites for this competition now. zizou becks cicinho robinho guti are all coming to form at the right time. so why not?
i see their weakness in defense as the main problem for them. i dont see how they will cope with zizou robinho etc playing balls rnd them, i really dont.
cant wait for the game

HALA MADRID!

 

The wounded tiger is the most dangerous animal in the jungle. And Arsenal is a wounded tiger. Any one that thinks these games are going to be a cakewalk for RM is dreaming.

And I agree with the guy that said RM can self destruct. We saw it against Lyon, we saw it against Barcelona and we saw it against Zaragoza.

Much rides on Lopez Caro. If he does the Luxa sleepwalk & ignores what is happening on the pitch, than we are in trouble. Lopez Caro has to be ready to yank any one, and this most certainly includes the Galacticos, that is having an off night.

Hala Madrid.

 

i agree to a certain extent with you because the first leg against zaragoza wasnt a great spectacle. Everyone and i mean everyone need to be in top form. any slip up could cause a disaster

 

Which he still hasn't done as of yet.

Things are better than they have been in a while, but again the ease which a team like Arsenal is written off simply because we are winning games and playing better than we had before (which isn't saying much) surprises me. My memory isn't the best, but I seem to remember that after the first Zaragozo game we supposedly had no chance in the CL on this forum....that wasn't even a month ago.

A lot can happen in football, moreso when you are playing teams that aren't entirely crappy like Arsenal.

 

No I believe the wounded lion is the most dangerous animal in the jungle. And thus far looking at Arsenal's season, you definitely can't classify them as a wounded lion, more like a wounded monkey.

 

I do hope they are wounded monkeys looking for nuts instead of goals. i hope wenger starts a few young men because they are absolute CRAP

 

The scariest thing they're bringing to the Bernabeau is Henry, he can be marked by woodgate, other than that, the team is comprised mostly of inexperienced kids. If we don't eat them up at the Bernabeau, that would be a big shame.

 

Henry is the only one. ljumberg is non existent, pires is worse then any of the kids, bergkamp is an old age pensioner. i dont see anything as scary as Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Robinho etc

 

I just met some Gooners on the Metro coming back from the Getafe-Atleti game... the one said to me "We need to score (to compete)"

He was fortunate enough to get tickets through the club, even if they are in the 4th fondo corner...

 

I agree that Arsenal right now is made up of a bunch of young kids, but I think they will be trying to prove them selves at the Bernabeu in such a big stage/game. They know that everyone is calling them inexperienced and crap so they really have nothing to loose, I think they'll come out and give it all they have...

With that said I still think we can take them and we need to take advantage of this game, because the second leg wont be as easy. They will have Cole,Cambell, and Reyes back in the second leg so we should make sure its all over by the first leg.

 

well this is what i posted on arsenals equivalent thread. thought i might aswel re-post here too: