‘Admittedly…’ Carlo Ancelotti has spotted one thing Arsenal don’t have ahead of Real Madrid second leg

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Arsenal are 90 minutes away from reaching the Champions League semi-final.

After Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter-final, the Gunners put themself in a good position to advance in the Champions League. 

Though Real Madrid are fixated on a comeback, Mikel Arteta and his players will take a tunnel-vision approach, with their task simple: win the game on the night. 

In what is a season-defining game for Arsenal could be a career-defining fixture for Carlo Ancelotti, whose future in Madrid is on the ropes if the season ends without a La Liga or Champions League win. 

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Carlo Ancelotti questions Arsenal’s experience

Regardless of the talk around Real Madrid’s comeback history, Arsenal will have confidence heading into the second leg. 

Declan Rice’s masterclass against Madrid in the first leg set the North Londoners up with dream circumstances to take to the Bernabeu. 

Though the three-goal lead puts the tie in Arsenal’s favour, Ancelotti identified a weakness within Arteta’s squad that his side could exploit.

“I’d say Arsenal are very well organised. Admittedly, they are not the most experienced,” the Real Madrid manager said in his pre-match press conference.

“But Arteta is working very well with them and they have a very clear idea offensively and defensively,” he continued.

After placing doubts over Arsenal’s experience, Ancelotti insisted that the Gunners are ‘more focused’ on the pitch than some would expect.

“They’re more focused on what they have to do than what is on the outside.”

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Real Madrid looking for ‘control’ against Arsenal

Ancelotti spoke highly of Arsenal, putting his doubts over experience in the tournament aside.

After the Gunners stunned and dominated Los Blancos in the first leg, the Italian made it clear that he’s not relying on the ‘magic’ of Madrid’s comeback history to turn the tie around. 

“We’ll try to play with a lot of intensity, trying to press and be more in control than we were in the first leg. No magic, because magic doesn’t exist.”

For Arsenal, the noise outside of the fixture is silence, with Arteta’s side in control and more than capable of withstanding the pressure at the Bernabeu.