Despite a crushing defeat at Arsenal’s stadium in the first leg, Real Madrid’s coach and players are still hopeful of a comeback in the second leg at home to make it to the semi-finals.
Over the past few years, Real Madrid has written incredible comeback stories, especially in the Champions League. Some of these comebacks have been unbelievable, others like fairytales. As commentator Peter Drury famously said before Real’s memorable comeback against Manchester City in 2022, “Real Madrid is a miracle club, crazy things happen here…”
To keep their hopes of retaining the trophy alive, they’ll need to pull off something extraordinary once again. While words are easy, belief within the team is building up, especially with the next leg at Santiago Bernabéu.
If Real plays like they did at Arsenal, however, another humiliating experience awaits them. Despite losing 3-0 in the first leg, they can still take some comfort from the fact that without Thibaut Courtois’s heroic performance, the scoreline could have easily been 4-0 or 5-0.
In the first half, both teams were almost level, but in the second half, Arsenal tore Real Madrid apart. After Declan Rice scored two superb free-kicks, it felt like every attack from Arsenal could lead to a goal. The final whistle, however, came as a huge relief for Ancelotti’s side.
After the match, Real Madrid’s coach Carlo Ancelotti was quick to admit his team’s failure.
“Such a loss is hard to accept, definitely. It’s something we didn’t expect. But after going 2-0 down from set-pieces, we broke down. We ended the match terribly. This team usually responds, but today the last 30 minutes were very poor. We need to self-reflect, and we’ll do everything we can to bounce back.”
But is that even possible? Real Madrid has never done something like this in their Champions League-winning era. However, they do have one such example from their European Cup days. In the 1975-76 season, they lost the first leg 4-1 against Derby County, but came back to win 5-1 in the second leg at home.
Taking inspiration from an event nearly 50 years ago is tough, but in the last few seasons, Real Madrid has pulled off things nobody thought possible, especially on their own turf. For that reason, Ancelotti is still holding on to belief.
“Anything can happen at the Bernabéu. After tonight, it may feel like there’s no chance left. But in football, there’s always a chance. Nobody expected Arsenal to score two goals from set-pieces, but sometimes these things happen. We have to keep our belief in the comeback.”
“We’ve done it many times before, and we’ll have to do it again. It’s going to be tough, but we must keep fighting from the first minute to the last.”
And this belief isn’t just Ancelotti’s. After the match, experienced star Lucas Vázquez echoed the same sentiment.
“The challenge is very tough now. But if any team in the world can come back from 3-0 down, it’s Real Madrid, especially with our fans backing us at home.”
The second leg will take place next Wednesday.
