Mikel Arteta reveals what Arsenal have already done for Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the Champions League

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Arsenal have all but secured their place in the last eight of the Champions League.

The Gunners host PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates in the second leg of their round of 16 tie on Wednesday night, looking to prevent the Dutch side from completing a remarkable comeback.

PSV were thrashed 7-1 by Arsenal at the Philips Stadion last week, meaning Peter Bosz’ team need to win by a six-goal margin to even push the game to extra-time.

Mikel Arteta should be comfortable rotating his squad significantly for the clash as he looks ahead to a potential quarter-final tie against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

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Mikel Arteta admits he’s been watching Real and Atletico Madrid

The route to the Champions League final was mapped out in February’s draw after the play-off knockout round, with Arsenal to face one of the two Madrid sides in the last eight if they progress past PSV.

With the PSV tie all but done, Arteta and his coaching staff have surely been looking ahead to the quarter-final and assessing the two potential opponents.

The Spaniard admitted that this is the case, confirming that they’ve been keeping an eye on future opposition teams in the Champions League.

Speaking in his press conference on Tuesday morning, the Arsenal boss said: “Since the day that we had the teams in the group stages and we had one opposition, we have been looking at the others for sure.

“Then once we knew as well the possible ones, first of all because we know them all because they’re so good.

“So yeah you start to put in your head what if? But that’s it because you have to earn every right to be in that position.”

While the coach was relatively coy on addressing whether he’s specifically scouted Real or Atletico, he was certainly hinting that both have been under the microscope of his coaching entourage.

Arsenal are better suited to playing Real Madrid than Atletico Madrid

Arsenal fans have already decided that they’d prefer Real Madrid in the next round, and despite Los Blancos’ ridiculous array of talented footballers, this is a completely valid argument.

Carlo Ancelotti can pitch the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham up against the Gunners, but the Spanish giant’s playing style would be a better match for the North Londoners.

Atletico would likely try and sit in a mid-block against Arsenal, a system that has seen Arteta’s side’s attack struggle to create chances on several occasions.

Conversely, Real Madrid are likely to leave space for Arsenal to exploit, particularly in the full-back positions where they’re vulnerable.

Arsenal also boasted the best defensive record in the competition in the group stage, so if any side is capable of negating the European Champions, it’s Arteta’s team.

Bukayo Saka is likely to be back for the quarter-final tie, giving Arsenal realistic hope of reaching the last four.