Can Real Madrid Break Through? Analyzing Their Attacking Problems Before Arsenal’s Second Leg

‎On Wednesday evening, Real Madrid will face Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

‎Most football analysts seem to believe that the tie is nearly settled, following Arsenal’s impressive 3-0 victory in the first leg.

‎Given Los Blancos’ impressive history in the competition and their relentless determination in the Champions League, an early goal from the hosts at the Santiago Bernabéu could alter the course of the tie.

‎Such a goal could sow doubt in the minds of the Gunners. Therefore, Arsenal must be prepared to defend against a potential full-scale assault right from the opening whistle.

‎Mikel Arteta is likely to be drumming it into his players that Arsenal remains unbeaten against Real Madrid in European competition (W2 D1) and hasn’t conceded a single goal across their three meetings.

‎Indeed, they could become the first side ever to keep four consecutive clean sheets against the Spanish giants in the European Cup/Champions League.

‎History against Los Blancos in the Champions League

‎It will be a challenging task for the home side to progress, as their loss at the Emirates Stadium was the fifth time they’ve suffered a first-leg defeat in the European Cup/Champions League by three or more goals.

‎Historically, they have been eliminated in the second leg three out of the last four times this has occurred.

‎The only exception was in the 1975-76 season against Derby County, where they came back from a 1-4 first-leg defeat to win 6-5 on aggregate.

‎In the 53 matches that Real Madrid has played against English teams in the European Cup/Champions League. They have won by more than three goals on only two occasions: 5-1 against Derby County in the 1975-76 season and 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2010-11 quarter-finals.

‎Since the beginning of the 2015/16 season, this will mark the 16th time that Los Blancos have played the second leg of a Champions League knockout stage tie at home.

‎Of the previous 15 instances, they have only been eliminated once: in the last 16 against Ajax during the 2018/19 season.

‎What’s more, they’ve progressed from the last eight knockout stage games in a row, and you just can’t write Carlo Ancelotti’s side off.

‎Kylian Mbappé has directly contributed to eight goals in eight knockout stage matches against English teams in the Champions League, with seven goals and one assist. This includes five contributions in four home games, featuring four goals and one assist.

‎His attacking partner, Vinícius Júnior, currently has 28 goals and 21 assists, and he could become the fourth different Real Madrid player to reach 50 goal involvements in the Champions League, following Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Raúl.

‎This achievement would be at least twice as many as any other player from a single team, with Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller leading Bayern.

‎This season, however, both Vinicius and Mbappe, as well as Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, have come in for quite a lot of criticism.

‎Real Madrid have failed to live up to expectations this season

‎One of Europe’s most feared attacking units has certainly had its moments, but they have also underperformed in several high-stakes matches.

‎For instance, they have already suffered heavy defeats in two El Clásico matches against Barcelona, in both the Spanish Super Cup and La Liga.

‎They still have the Copa del Rey final and another league game against their eternal rivals on the horizon.

‎Both at least give Los Blancos the chance of some redress.

‎If the results in La Liga remain unchanged leading up to Real Madrid’s match at the Estadio Lluis Companys, Barcelona could nearly secure the title with a win. They are currently four points ahead at the top of the table.

‎Alternatively, Real Madrid could make the conclusion of the 2024/25 campaign quite intriguing.

‎Los Blancos will need their protagonists to step up to the plate between now and then of course.

‎Last season, Bellingham started like a train, and by the end of the 2023/24 campaign,n had plundered 23 goals whilst providing 13 assists.

‎Vini Jr. topped the scoring charts with 24 goals and added nine assists, while Rodrygo contributed 17 goals and eight assists as Real Madrid comfortably won the La Liga title and showcased their usual dominance in the Champions League.

‎Kylian Mbappé has had an impressive season with 32 goals and four assists, but his performance in El Clásico was mixed; he failed to score in one match and opened the scoring in another, only to end up on the losing side with a 5-2 defeat.

‎Additionally, he was somewhat of a bystander during the match at the Emirates.

‎In some respects, his scoring record is already reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo whilst in Madrid. The Portuguese would get his fair share of big game goals over the time he spent in Spain, but many of his strikes would come against the ‘lesser’ teams, with respect.

‎Real Madrid’s front three need to develop better chemistry

‎A hat-trick against Manchester City has been the standout moment for the Frenchman this season, with his only other treble occurring against Valladolid, who sit at the bottom of La Liga.

‎Additionally, he has scored braces against teams such as Leganés (19th) and Las Palmas (18th) and netted goals against Espanyol (15th) and Sevilla (14th), which have all boosted his statistics.

‎Vini Jr has 19 and 11 assists in 24/25, Bellingham’s weighed in with 13 and 12 respectively whilst Rodrygo has 13 goals and nine assists.

‎All of those numbers are decent enough at first glance but there still seems to be something missing.

‎It may be related to Vini Jr.’s low pass completion rate of 77.7%, the worst in the entire Real Madrid squad.

‎Additionally, the shooting accuracy of Rodrygo (55.4%), Bellingham (53.9%), and Vini Jr. (54.6%) all require significant improvement.

‎Often, when the Los Blancos attack has borne down on their opponent’s defense only for chances to go begging, the players have turned on each other.

‎Bellingham has been seen beating the turf in frustration more than once this season, and Vini Jr. hasn’t always looked comfortable coming in off the left side. Additionally, their interchanging of positions with Mbappé in the middle seems to have created some challenges as well.

‎Defending from the front certainly doesn’t appear to be in the strikers’ vocabulary either. Mbappe has only made 15 tackles in all competitions this season by way of example, followed by Vini Jr’s 35 and Rodrygo’s 45.

‎At least Bellingham has put himself about a bit and made 85 tackles, the joint most in the squad, along with Eduardo Camavinga.

‎A simple analogy for Real Madrid’s current struggles is that the wheels haven’t been oiled as well as in the previous campaign.

‎Some might even argue that the decision to sign Mbappé was more about showing their financial power than about making a purchase that was truly right for the team at that moment.

‎A signing very much in the Galactico mould you might say.

‎Although his statistics are impressive, the reality is that he hasn’t yet led his club to success, and if Los Blancos were to lose in the Copa del Rey final, there’s a strong possibility that Mbappé and his teammates could finish the season without any silverware.

‎For a squad widely praised as having one of the best attacks in the world, that outcome simply isn’t acceptable.