Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has urged his team to be bold, and strong to complete the job at the Santiago Bernabeu when they take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
The Gunners will be hoping to consolidate on their stunning 3-0 win in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium to advance to the semi-finals of the competition.
Arteta’s men faces a tough battle against Real Madrid, who are the king of comebacks in the prestigious competition.
Arsenal produced a near-perfect performance in the first-leg and they need to repeat such or something better in the second leg to overcome Real Madrid.
Arteta has opened up on how his team can complete the job at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
He said: “We have to show the mindset to win. To be brave, to be dominant and to be determined.
“We need to have the conviction that we can be better than them and win the game.
“There are three aspects, the physical aspect, the emotional and the tactical.
“The emotional aspect is really important and I have a lot of reassurance from what the team has done all season, in positive contexts and difficult contexts.
“To progress to a quarter-final like this we are going to enjoy it. We then have to be bold and brave to do it. they have to feel it.
“Our preparation has been the things we have to do, the things we have to dominate in different phases of the game to give us the best possible chance to win the game.
“That’s our mindset and how we are going to play on Wednesday.”
Arteta also provided update on the availability of Thomas Partey for the crucial encounter.
He said: “Yeah, he’s available. He had a little niggle during the game, that’s why he had to come off. But he felt good after the last few days so he’s fine. And Jorginho, unfortunately, is not here after the incident of the weekend, he hasn’t recovered. So yeah, our thoughts are with him.
He also said they are not bothered about the noise at the Santiago Bernabeu, while reiterating that the target is to win.
Arteta said: “I understand that. It’s part of their history and they have the right to be talking about these kinds of scenarios.
“Ours is very different and our mindset, preparation, our thoughts and how we’re going to have the best chance to be better than them in the aspects that are crucial in the game because we’re going to try to take the game to places very different to our intentions and if we do that we’re going to have a good chance to win the game.”
“The mindset is to win, to be brave, to be bold, dominant, to be determined and to have the conviction that we can be better than them and win the game.
“That is the message I have conveyed to the players. They did that in London and now we have to do it in a different context on Wednesday.”
The Gunners are unbeaten in their last three matches against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Real Madrid have never overturn a 3-0 deficit in the history of the Champions League, they will be hoping to turn things around in the tie.
The winner of the tie will face either Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) or Aston Villa in the semis.
