Arsenal could achieve an unprecedented Champions League feat when they reunite with Real Madrid in Wednesday's quarter-final second leg at the Bernabeu.
Mikel Arteta's side head to the Spanish capital eight days on from teaching the European champions a footballing lesson, strolling to a commanding 3-0 victory on their own patch in North London.
Two delightful Declan Rice free kicks and a slick Mikel Merino finish did the damage in the English capital, and only the excellence of Thibaut Courtois prevented Arsenal from gaining an even greater advantage.
However, Arsenal now face a daunting Bernabeu test as they bid to avoid a calamitous collapse in the second leg, for which their reward will be a semi-final showdown with either Aston Villa or Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners are returning to Real Madrid's intimidating home 19 years on from a famous 1-0 win in the 2005-06 last 16, where Thierry Henry's solo goal made the difference, and they also held Los Blancos to a 0-0 draw at home that year.
Arsenal out to keep fourth straight clean sheet vs. Real Madrid
© Imago
Thanks to that pair of results and last week's first-leg win, Arsenal remain unbeaten against Los Blancos in European competition and have never conceded a goal to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Should Arsenal register another shut-out on Wednesday, they will become the first team to ever keep four successive clean sheets against Real Madrid in the Champions League/European Cup.
Furthermore, victory would see them equal their longest-ever winning run away from home in the competition, which currently stands at four from the 2005-06 season, where their fourth victory was that Bernabeu success.
The Gunners managed to nullify Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Kylian Mbappe despite the absences of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori, as Jakub Kiwior excelled alongside William Saliba.
The Pole and the Frenchman are expected to pair up again on Wednesday, where if Arsenal are to keep a fourth straight clean sheet vs. Real Madrid, they must snap Los Blancos' astonishing scoring streak on home soil.
The reigning European champions have found the back of the net in each of their last 35 Champions League matches at the Bernabeu, last failing to score over six years ago, in a 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow in 2018.
Real Madrid bidding to repeat 49-year remontada vs. Arsenal
© Imago
However, Real Madrid would need to win by a four-goal margin to complete the remontada in 90 or 120 minutes, and Arsenal have not suffered such a defeat away from home since November 2021, a 4-0 Premier League loss to Liverpool.
Los Blancos are not complete strangers when it comes to such astounding comebacks against English teams, though, as they have progressed from one of their previous four European Cup/UCL ties when losing the first leg by three or more goals.
That instance occurred in the 1975-76 last 16, where they were thrashed 4-1 by Derby County in the first leg before a phenomenal 5-1 drubbing in the return fixture sealed a 6-5 aggregate victory.
Arsenal's bid to avoid the same fate has already suffered a setback, as one of Arteta's experienced midfielders will reportedly 'definitely' sit out the encounter due to injury.
Ben Knapton
