‘Mikel Arteta told to question Real Madrid v Arsenal officials’ over ‘problems’
Mikel Arteta should “definitely” be publicly questioning both the referee and VAR ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid.
Declan Rice was the man of the moment in the first leg of the Gunners’ Champions League knockout tie against Real Madrid.
But despite Arsenal holding a 3-0 lead against the Spanish giants, there is a sense of unease surrounding the second leg match in Madrid.
Rivals of the 15-time champions of Europe would argue they have a reputation for gaining favourable refereeing decisions, even if they may point out their El Clasico opposite numbers, Barcelona, were found to have paid €7million (£5.9million) to former referee José María Enríquez Negreira [The Guardian].
In order to counteract the home side from receiving favourable decisions, Richard Keys has suggested in his blog that Arteta should take a proactive approach to the problem.
Mikel Arteta should be ‘raising awareness’ of possible refereeing problems
The former Sky Sports presenter is backing Arsenal to progress to the Champions League semi-final, but believes it won’t be easy, whilst also giving his thoughts on how Arteta should handle both VAR and the referee, saying:
“I really fancy Arsenal. It won’t be easy, but I think they did enough in the first leg. What I would definitely be doing if I was Arteta is publicly questioning both the ref and VAR.
“I’m not saying either is likely to be influenced by the occasion – but I’d be raising awareness about possible problems in advance of the game.”
Arsenal just 90 minutes away from favourable tie with PSG
Football Insider Verdict
Should Arsenal progress past Real Madrid on Wednesday evening (16 April), they will face a PSG team that scraped through against Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate.
Prior to the Parisians’ second leg tie against the Villains, Luis Enrique’s side were seen as heavy favourites to win the whole competition.
However, whilst Villa‘s 3-2 win on the night was not enough to see them progress, it did expose some major weaknesses in the Ligue 1 champion’s game plan.
PSG romped to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, but both players were caught out as the Villains fired their way back into the game.
Arsenal’s aggressive, wing-focused game-plan that caught Real Madrid off guard is exactly the sort of style that will give the French team so many issues.
It may sound silly to say, but PSG could just be the most favourable opponents Arsenal could wish for.