Arsenal v Real Madrid; mismatch?

Saka is too fresh. I think he'll run out of steam in the 2nd half.
Can anyone see Arsenal scoring? 2 great passes across the mouth of the goal but no one to connect.

Real will be happy to be all level going into HT.

i think arsenal have surprised a few of us here. only a matter of time before arsenal stick one in based on the first half. madrid need to be doing better.

Spot on TTT

Madrid playing with Arsenal here .Arsenal score Madrid go and score

On Real 4.7. Think Arsenal may well rue missing their first half chances.

Men v Boys. Real Madrid are just toying with them and will go on to win 0-1 or 0-2. Hth.

wow

1-0 Rice. What a goal

Absolutely superb from  Rice.

What a goal! It deserves to lead any game in football.

Great goal from Rice

16 here Real. I'm tempted given what Real did at the City ground.

Not the worst bet, but Arteta has Arsenal shape much more solid than Pep did with City. You could smell the Real come back there.

Damien Rice, 1-0.

theres 1 i put it out on 60 rply after 20+yrs they get 2...61 nm

theres 1 i put it out on 60 rply after 20+yrs they get 2...61 nm

theres 1 i put it out on 60 rply after 20+yrs they get 2...61 nm

wow, looked certain to be 2-0 !

ahhh 64 probs

You want to be scoring there...

twice off the line in 2 minutes !

big save, Arsenal could do with another goal

woooooooooooow !!!!!

there it is

Belta!!!

Blimey

that is literally perfect

OMG Rice again

Real Madrid need Donald Trump to help with their walls...

RICE
BABY

Beyond stunning, both of them.

Wow

3333333333333333333

3333333333333333333333333

Toooo easy

Merino has been one hell of a purchase

Blind me! Real's players are stunned!

blimey WD Arsenal.

Referee lined it up for him, lol

https://x.com/GoalsXtra/status/1909705523877851553?s=19

..

Tottenham in disguise lol

Arsenal touched 2.8 to qualify, great shopping by those on at that price.

Merino was a quality player at Newcastle, great to see him do well.

Declan Rice direct free-kicks scored in his career to date (matches with full data coverage):

◎ 0 - First 381 matches
◉ 2 - Inside 12 minutes vs Real Madrid tonight

Who scored

RM have just not done enough tonight. Arsenal's defence has been too good for them

Inter 2-1

Market swiped as suspend monkey was sleeping

Apr 8, 2025 -- 9:46PM, SirNorbertClarke wrote:

RM have just not done enough tonight. Arsenal's defence has been too good for them

'not done enough' is charitable. Arsenal wiped the floor with them.

Come on Arsenal! 4-0 is much more appealing!

Brilliant from Arsenal tonight, very well played.

Oh wow, I did not see that coming.

SirNorbertClarke • April 8, 2025 3:32 PM BST
I have learned that a fair few posters here are pretty clueless on how to make a profit and just as importantly how to keep that profit.



SirNorbertClarke • April 7, 2025 4:09 PM BST
Arsenal have next to no chance of reaching the semis.
Real Madrid have not won the Champions League 15 times because they let fragile wannabes live Arsenal roll them over[/i]

[i]SirNorbertClarke • April 5, 2025 7:29 PM BST
I'd say the only thing certain to happen on Tuesday is Real Madrid will score

SirNorbertClarke • April 8, 2025 7:40 PM BST
As this is the 1st leg I'm going to hedge my bets and just lay Arsenal to win to nil.
If I was a gambling man I'd back Vini Jr for a shot on target @ 1.95

mesmerised • April 8, 2025 10:36 AM BST
This Madrid side are there for the taking, they just trade off of their name which puts fear into people, on paper, Arsenal should be beating them at the Emirates, odds justified.

That Arsenal can't do that in the Premier League shows how strong most teams in the PL are nowadays.

Know rice was good
But Saka was un playable
At times
That was enough with o grade
Run the show

mes finally you get a prediction right. Congrats

Rice,a bargain.

People don't actually think Arsenal will go through do they?

Two great free kicks from Rice. Never scored from a free kick before either.

RM never looked like scoring which is very unusual for them.

Should be a great return game.

remember, you can never beat the models

its fun to try though

I guess Ana De Armas was wearing her Gooners shirt tonight

Trent-Alexander Arnold is just what this Real Madrid defence need.

Twitter, lol

Not over yet though. An early goal in Madrid and these lads will sh¹t themselves.

A Legendary performance from Arsenal tonight. Could have been 6 or 7-1 on chances. Worthless if they don't see it off in the second leg tho. And yes an early Real goal and it's game on. A lot of shocks tonight in how it panned out. You can't just expect Real to be at their best on current form and after tonight tho. With a 3 goal lead Arsenal should be attacking and looking to get one of the first 2 goals, not sitting back.

Rice, Merino, Saka, MLS, Raya were standout. Kiwior at the back was solid but not really tested. But Real still should have taken the lead.

Alaba's form since returning from injury has been atrocious.  He's a liability marking Saka. Prob someone different next time. Camavinga might have done a better job at LB but now he's suspended. Without Saka tonight Arsenal don't win that imo. Won both FKs and could have had 2 assists first half.

Very well done arsenal watched the game in a pub on the outskirts of Manchester there were around a dozen people watching the game nobody particularly bothered who won just hoping to see a good game,well by the time the third goal went in you would think you were in an arsenal pub.

Any opinions of which free kick was the best accepting both were incredible.

PSG are still the best team in the comp imo, but Arsenal must have their best chance of getting to the final in years.

The last time the Ersenal conceded 3 goals on the road was at Luton.
December 2023.
They won 4-3.

Before that there was a League cup loss to West Ham 3-1. November 23 with a weakened team.
And before that was a 4-1 loss to CIty at the tail end of the 22-23 season. They have been back to the Etihad twice since and not lost.

Real Madrid have playe English clubs 26 times in the Bernie inn.
Two occasions they won by 3 goals or more.
1976 v Derby 5-1.
2011 Spurs 4-0 with Peter Crouch sent off in the first few minutes.

Arsenal 10-1 on to qualify

Hands up don’t shoot. Did not see that coming. I was screaming at him not to shoot for the first free kick, far too far out! The second was precision. Cannot believe how poor Madrid were. I do expect Arsenal to complete the job although I don’t expect the white handkerchiefs it is possible

Good news for the pursuit of upgrades in the summer. All 3 main targets would shoe into this side without too much competition, well though Partey played. A goal scorer is still bleeding’ obviously needed and Nico Williams would be cherry on top. Chop out the deadwood and Arsenal are contenders next season.

As mentioned the other day Real Madrid are not in the best form atm. Even so Arsenal were superb last night, however without Rice's two magnificent free kicks, the score could have ended up 1:0, they still need a centre forward. To think they can put in a performance like that without Jesus, Havertz, Gabriel and Tomiyasu; it was good to see Ben White come on as a sub.

Headline in Marca after the game was..
..'Herado de muerte'.
Which i believe translates as ..
.. Mortally Wounded.

sofaking
sofaking 09 Apr 25 00:02 Joined: 08 Nov 07 | Topic/replies: 44,530 | Blogger: sofaking's blog
Not over yet though. An early goal in Madrid and these lads will sh¹t themselves.

Agree a bit, though most of these players are internationals. But as we saw last night, even the best can completely lose their heads.

An early goal followed by a dodgy penalty and a couple of cards for the midfielders and it will be game on.

    sofaking08 Apr 25 21:14Joined: 08 Nov 07 | Topic/replies: 44,530 | Blogger: sofaking's blog
Men v Boys. Real Madrid are just toying with them and will go on to win 0-1 or 0-2. Hth.

             

Tbf to most of us even Ancelotti was bemused by the proceedings. The left eyebrow was almost vertical even if Madrid were not in great form.

Would it of mattered what form Madrid were in against those Goals. ?

Yes!

We all saw what could have happened if Vinicius was unleashed down the left. We saw no forward in their 6 yard box. Small margins at times. Remind me how many goals Rice has scored from free kicks.

I think confidence grew from Saka.

If I was an Arsenal fan (God forbid) I'd be pretty confident of getting through this tie. Never a better time to shake off the bottle tag. Lose and it's cemented.

Don't go all spursy on us now arsenal.

Aspro wishes he was born an Arsenal fan

I think Barcelona are the best team left, PSG look much improved since we beat them in this comp earlier in the season, there's no doubt they'll beat Villa over two legs, that will be a much harder game than Madrid, feels 50/50 but then PSG would have the second leg at home. They benefit from finishing much lower down in the initial league table.

Kind Regards.

Looking at the stats of last nights game, that was an all round excellent performance. Rice and Saka may be getting the plaudits, but Saliba, Partey & Raya were excellent and Kiwior held up well.

They do need to win another trophy (it will be five years since the last FA Cup win), although I doubt any Arsenal fans think this current team are bottlers.

Partly is a pretty good player, sadly not often enough for Arsenal. Might not be his fault. I like him holding leaving Rice to go further forward.

Party is certainly better than a lot of people give him credit for. Passing occasionally sloppy but reading of the game and tackling pretty sound. Having played some 180 games in Spain, the majority for Atletico, he would have been well prepared for last night.

Even if I was Donald Trump, I could not call that a successful play.

Maybe Real left too much behind getting past Atletico. Suspect Modric won't be starting many more key games.

Full credit to Arsenal, I do not dislike them.

I'm still looking elsewhere for the CL winner though.

Arsenal were very fortunate with the two goals scored from the free kicks.

Previously they haven't scored directly from a free kick since 2021. Rice had never scored directly from a free kick.

Great goals but Arsenal were very fortunate

yep not bitter and twisted! Arsenal were lucky! Madrid wuz robbed!

SNC, you do half write some nonsense, are you even old enough to be posting on a betting forum?

Storm Alert what do you reckon the odds are of Arsenal scoring two goals direct from free kicks against Brentford this weekend?

Not an Arsenal fan but would like them to win it, my only worry for them is that they are in that stick or twist spot, just don't want them handing too much of the initiative to Madrid and capitulate as they desperately try to protect what they've got.

Good luck to them.

Apologies you are entitled to your opinion of course. I don't think it makes Arsenal lucky. It wasn't luck it was skill; two great goals scored by Rice's superb technique.

Saying Arsenal were lucky is Nonsensical to say the least.

Arsenal played well but for the brilliance of Rice for his two goals Real was a match for Arsenal, I firmly believe. Real could have scored at least one esp Mbappe; Bellingham and Vinicius underperformed; the brilliance of Rice was the decider hence the flattered 3-0 scoreline.

I think Real can return the favour next wednesday, and qualify; penalties may be needed though.

Nobby nob nob definitely old enough to post on the forum, he's got more grey hairs than a knackered old badger, it's just that he's not bright enough to post on here

11 shots on target to there 3.
Arsenal's xG was 1.5, Madrid's was 0.5, xG goal expectancy measures the quality of goalscoring opportunities and the probability of scoring from them.
xG shots on target was also 2.89 Arsenal, 0.24 Madrid.

So how was Madrid a match for Arsenal.


Kind Regards.

As everyone who's played sport knows luck plays a major part in everything.

It is possible to think Arsenal were fortunate last night while acknowledging they were also the much better team.

mes why all the insults? You remind me a lot of YHTL when he is losing it.

fair play to Arsenal,  saka won the free kicks which were huge and 2 of the best frees you'll ever see
How on earth did they fail to beat Everton then?   Baffled....
bet they struggle to beat Brentford now on Saturday too

Martinez getting a warm reception in Paris, lol

https://x.com/MarkOgden_/status/1910035099963306309?s=19

..

They'd have been lucky if they'd only deserved to win 1-0 but got 2 worldie FKs. But they absolutely battered them, with countless good saves from Courtois and at least 2 goal line clearances when he was beaten. Unlucky not to be 5 or more.

Great performance by Arsenal. Like many people, I didn't see it coming, but no reason to think they won't reach the final now.

Barcelona XI: Szczesny, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, Pedri, De Jong, Fermin, Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha.

Subs: Pena, Kochen, Araujo, Gavi, Ferran, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Pau Victor, Garcia, Fort, Martin.

Borussia Dortmund XI: Kobel, Anton, Can, Bensebaini, Ryerson, Chukwuemeka, Nmecha, Brandt, Adeyemi, Guirassy, Gittens.

Subs: Meyer, Lotka, Couto, Ozcan, Reyna, Beier, Duranville, Svensson, Sule, Watjen, Kabar.

Paris St-Germain XI: Donnarumma, Hakimi (c), Lucas Beraldo, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Joao Nevez, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.

Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Kimpembe, Goncalo Ramos, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Barcolo, Zaire-Emery, Mbaye.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne, McGinn (c), Kamara, Tielemans, Ramsey, Rogers, Rashford.

Subs: Olsen, Proctor, Mings, Disasi, Maatsen, Bogarde, Onana, Barkley, Asensio, Watkins.

I'd expect Emery to play defensive here

Apr 9, 2025 -- 6:41PM, impossible123 wrote:

Arsenal played well but for the brilliance of Rice for his two goals Real was a match for Arsenal, I firmly believe. Real could have scored at least one esp Mbappe; Bellingham and Vinicius underperformed; the brilliance of Rice was the decider hence the flattered 3-0 scoreline.I think Real can return the favour next wednesday, and qualify; penalties may be needed though.

Arsenal scored 3 superb goals and Courtouis made 6 good saves. Real had 1 attempt that I could have saved