Arsenal ace stresses importance of securing home win vs Real Madrid – ‘Make it a little easier’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid were humbled by Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this week in La Liga and the result has understandably left Los Blancos in a state of shock.

Having given up a golden chance to move closer to Barcelona in the standings, the men in white must take to the field once more tomorrow night in arguably their most important UEFA Champions League game yet.

The first leg of the UCL quarterfinal against Arsenal will be played at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow and it will be critical that Real Madrid bounce back from the slump at the weekend.

Raya’s two cents

Speaking to the media ahead of the game, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya opened up on his team’s chances and laid out the conditions that will largely determine the result against Real Madrid.

“It’s a great game, we know what they’re capable of. We know how many times they have won this competition and we are ready for this challenge and ready to be in the semifinals,” he began.

“We have to continue as we have been playing until now and defending as before. We have to win the game and make it a little easier for when we visit the Bernabéu,” he added on the importance of tomorrow’s game.

Raya urges Arsenal to win at the Emirates. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Elaborating on why he stressed on a win at the Emirates stadium, Raya said,

“A game at the Bernabeu is very long, as they say, but if we do what we have to do we will have a good opportunity.”

Arsenal enter tomorrow’s game without several usual starters including Gabriel who was recently ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.

“We have had many injuries, we have had many different centers, but the team is ready, they know what they have to do, that’s why there hasn’t been much difference when we changed the defense. This shows the resilience of the team.”

“Saliba and Gabriel are one of the best pairs of centers in football, but all of us who are have to be at our best level to stop Madrid,” he added.

Finally, Raya spoke on how important Bukayo Saka will be against Real Madrid, especially considering that he recently came back from injury.

“It seems that he never left, he is one of those players that no matter how long he is away when they come back it is them again. He has the mentality of being one of the leaders, he always wants to do it well.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo