Examining Real Madrid’s Attacking Challenges Ahead of UCL Second Leg Against Arsenal

On Wednesday night, Real Madrid face off against Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The consensus among football fans is that the tie is all but settled following Arsenal’s 3-0 victory in the first leg.

However, given Los Blancos’ illustrious history in the competition and their tenacious spirit in knockout rounds, should the home side score early at the Santiago Bernabeu, it could create considerable uncertainty. The Gunners must brace themselves for a potentially fierce onslaught right from kick-off.

Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly remind his squad that Arsenal boast an unbeaten record against Real Madrid in European competitions (W2 D1), managing to keep a clean sheet in all their encounters to date.

Should they maintain this record, they could become the first team ever to achieve four consecutive clean sheets against the Spanish giants in the history of the European Cup/Champions League.

Historical Context Against Los Blancos in the Champions League

Progressing from this stage will be a significant challenge for the home team, especially considering their recent defeat at the Emirates Stadium marked the fifth occasion they have lost the first leg of a knockout tie in the Champions League by three or more goals. Historically, they have been eliminated in three of the previous four such ties (the only exception being against Derby County in the last 16 during the 1975/76 season, where they triumphed 6-5 on aggregate after losing the first leg 1-4).

In their 53 encounters against English clubs in the Champions League, Real Madrid have only secured victories by a margin of three goals or more on two occasions: 5-1 against Derby County in 75/76 and 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2010/11 quarter-finals.

Additionally, since the beginning of the 2015/16 season, this marks the 16th instance where Los Blancos are playing the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie at home, and in the previous 15, they have only been eliminated once (against Ajax in the last 16 during the 2018/19 season).

Moreover, they have successfully advanced from the last eight successive knockout stage fixtures, making it unwise to underestimate Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

Kylian Mbappe has been directly involved in eight goals across eight knockout matches against English teams in the Champions League (seven goals and one assist), including five contributions in four home games (four goals and one assist).

His attacking partner, Vinicius Junior, is currently sitting on 28 goals and 21 assists and could potentially become the fourth Real Madrid player to hit 50 goal contributions in the Champions League, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Raul, doubling the tally of any other players, like Lewandowski and Muller from Bayern Munich.

This season, however, criticism has been aimed at Vinicius, Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Rodrygo.

Real Madrid Have Flattered to Deceive This Season

Despite being one of Europe’s most feared attacking lines, they have disappointed in several significant matches this season.

For instance, they were comprehensively beaten in two El Clasico clashes against Barcelona in both the Spanish Super Cup and La Liga, with more encounters on the horizon, including the Copa del Rey final.

These outings at least give Los Blancos a chance to redeem themselves.

In fact, if results in the La Liga remain unchanged as Real Madrid head to the Estadio Lluis Companys, the Catalans can virtually seal the title with a win, holding a four-point lead at the top of the standings, or Real can create an exhilarating finish to the 2024/25 campaign.

For Los Blancos to recover, their key players must raise their games before the end of this campaign.

Bellingham enjoyed a stellar start last season, finishing with an impressive tally of 23 goals and 13 assists by the end of the 2023/24 season. Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior topped the scoring charts with 24 goals, also contributing nine assists, as Real secured the La Liga title with ease while demonstrating their usual prowess in the Champions League.

While Mbappe has a commendable 32 goals and four assists under his belt this season, he has struggled in key bouts, drawing a blank in one Clasico and scoring the opener in another before ultimately suffering a 5-2 defeat, while also being largely anonymous in the Emirates match.

In some respects, his goal-scoring record mirrors that of Cristiano Ronaldo during his time in Madrid, as the Portuguese often netted in less significant matches yet would come through in high-stakes encounters as well.

The Forward Trio Must Find Better Synergy

Mbappe’s standout performance includes a hat-trick against Manchester City, but his other notable treble came against Valladolid, the bottom-placed team in La Liga. Other goals against lower-tier teams like Leganes (19th), Las Palmas (18th), Espanyol (15th), and Sevilla (14th) inflate his statistics.

In the ongoing season, Vini Jr. has amassed 19 goals and 11 assists, while Bellingham has contributed 13 goals and 12 assists, and Rodrygo has registered 13 goals and nine assists.

While these statistics seem solid at a glance, there remains a lingering sense of missing synergy.

Perhaps this disconnect can partly be attributed to Vinicius Junior’s subpar pass completion rate of 77.7%, the lowest in the entire Real Madrid squad.

Additionally, the shooting accuracy of Rodrygo (55.4%), Bellingham (53.9%), and Vinicius Jr. (54.6%) are all areas requiring substantial improvement.

Unfortunately, when the Los Blancos attack flows towards the opposition’s defence, they often squander their opportunities, which leads to frustration amongst the players. Bellingham has been spotted expressing his irritation on numerous occasions this season, while Vinicius Junior’s preference to drift in from the left seems to disrupt the synergy with Mbappe, who is frequently tasked with playing centrally.

The strikers also appear to lack a commitment to defending, highlighted by Mbappe’s meagre 15 tackles across all competitions this season, followed by Vinicius Junior with 35 and Rodrygo with 45. Bellingham, on the other hand, has contributed significantly with 85 tackles, the highest in the squad along with Eduardo Camavinga.

An apt analogy for Real’s current struggles might be that their mechanical functioning is not as smooth as in previous campaigns. It could even be argued that Mbappe’s acquisition represented more of a financial statement from Real Madrid rather than a carefully considered addition to fulfil the team’s immediate tactical needs.

You could say it’s a move echoing the Galactico philosophy.

While his statistics are noteworthy, the reality is that he has yet to propel his team to championship glory, and if Real Madrid were to falter in the Copa del Rey final, it’s possible that he and his teammates could finish the season empty-handed.

For a squad with a front line celebrated globally as one of the strongest, such a lack of accolades is simply unacceptable.