If Real Madrid fans may have enjoyed their victory over Manchester City in the Champions League play-off round a little bit more due to the links between Pep Guardiola and Barcelona, the Catalan coach might have enjoyed his glass of wine a little more on Tuesday night while viewing Arsenal’s win over Los Blancos. The Gunners will take a three-goal advantage to the Santiago Bernabeu next week, where they must try to avoid one of Real Madrid’s famous comebacks.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed after the game that Guardiola had his own part to play in defeat for Real Madrid too. The former Everton man was an assistant alongside Guardiola for several years at Manchester City before taking over as Arsenal coach, and spoke to his former boss about playing Los Blancos.
“We spoke with Pep (Guardiola) a few days ago and I wanted to ask him for some advice. It’s important to learn from the best,” Arteta told Sport after the game.
The Basque coach went on to call it an historic night, but was keen not to get overexcited ahead of the second leg.
“When you haven’t played against Real Madrid in 20 years and haven’t made a long run in the Champions League, you have to make history. These fans will remember it for a long time.”
“They (the fans) enjoyed it, but we have time to prepare for the big challenge. The players are full of excitement. It’s part of their history. We’re clear about the performance we played, but we’ll talk about the game we have to play in Madrid.”
On the other hand, there is an argument, without taking any credit away from Arsenal, that this was par for the course against Los Blancos’ defence of late. Mikel Merino’s third goal on Tuesday night made it 11 goals conceded in Real Madrid’s last four games, and stretched it to a run of just two clean sheets in 17 outings.
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