Arsenal faces Real Madrid in a clash that could crush one season | OneFootball

The clock will not stop. And when it hits kickoff time at the Emirates Stadium, there will be no room for prediction, assumption, or fire-and-brimstone orations. Arsenal and Real Madrid will meet in the Champions League quarterfinals. A clash of two giants with a season on the line, the infinitesimal things that win championships, and the fresh wounds still throbbing on both sides.

Arsenal hopes for something it never possessed, but feels what it just lost

Everton FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League | Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

Arsenal enters this match eager to do something that it has never done before, lift the big-eared trophy. It is a side which has rebuilt over the past few years, risen from the darkness of European football irrelevance, and back onto the big stage playing like it was born to it. Mikel Arteta is very probably the lead architect of aforementioned rebuild. Still, whether or not the plan itself is good, the pieces must be in place, and some aren't.

Gabriel Magalhães being out for the season leaves a hole in the spine of the team. The Brazilian had become a quiet pillar in the London defense, and his absence shakes the very structure of the squad. And the truth is, there’s no time for adjustments when the opponent standing across is Real Madrid.

If the defense is bleeding, the attack is grinning with Bukayo Saka's return. Arteta knows that a fit Saka is half the way to breaking down solid defenses like Madrid's, especially when there is room in behind the lines. But placing all bets on that may come at a cost.

Last time, the Gunners rolled over PSV. Nine aggregate goals, high press, intensity, and total control. The problem is, everything they did now comes under scrutiny in front of a club on a different level, the kind that's present for this kind of tournament and thrives on the errors of its opponent like a stalking predator.

Real Madrid comes hurting, and that never sounds great for the visiting side

Real Madrid v Real Sociedad - Copa del Rey | Florencia Tan Jun/GettyImages

When Real Madrid loses, the whole continent watches. And when it loses as it did at Valencia — stoppage time, left-footed gut-punch finish — the response is usually pugnacious. The previous loss to Valencia in La Liga was in the 2008 season. That punch stung and shook things up inside. But whoever imagined that unraveled Madrid hasn't been paying attention to this club the last few years.

Ancelotti’s team has this odd habit of thriving in adversity. That was the case against City, and again versus Atlético Madrid. This squad is far from some video game fantasy, but it’s packed with players who give the game exactly what it needs. And that makes a difference.

Two realities, same pressure

Arsenal has more at stake. This is the kind of clash that can shape the entire season. In the Premier League, the title race is in touching distance. Liverpool has both hands on the trophy with direct, powerful, and, above all, consistent soccer. That leaves the Champions League as Arsenal's only real hope of silverware. But with that comes a burden. Winning with the weight is never easy, especially when your biggest rival has a history of delivering under precisely the same kind of pressure.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, has history on its side. The team is used to being at home in the Champions League. Even when La Liga seems to be slipping away, Madrid's obsession has always been Europe. No wonder that in seasons when everything seemed to be shattered inside, the team still managed to rise on the grandest of occasions. It's like they have a switch that they flip and become full Champions mode.