Rio Ferdinand reveals Arsenal vs ‘mystic’ Real Madrid prediction in crucial Champions League clash
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has made his prediction as Arsenal face Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
The Gunners’ chances of winning the Premier League are all but over with Mikel Arteta’s side falling 13 points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of their final six matches of the season.
And now Arsenal are concentrating all of their efforts on winning the Champions League with Arteta’s men giving themselves a brilliant chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Two incredible Declan Rice free-kicks and a Mikel Merino strike saw Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg as they head to the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “If Madrid score first and there’s around half an hour to play… rah! My bum’s gonna be speaking for you lot [Arsenal]!
“I think Arsenal go through, trust me. I do. I think it’s going to be too much. Listen, I think Arsenal will go through. I think they’ve got too much.
“I think this Madrid team looked a bit disjointed the other day, the balance of the team and the squad hasn’t been right and they’ve been conceding goals left, right and centre.
“[Bukayo] Saka coming back was the big thing and it changed everything for Arsenal.
“If Saka is not there, I don’t think they would have won 3-0. But it is that and I think Arsenal are going to go through.”
Ferdinand added: “I’m backing Arsenal to go through. If my life’s on the line now, I’m going Arsenal to go through, not a problem.
“I’m just saying: that club Real Madrid is a mystic club. If Arsenal go behind it could be a different story.
“But I still think Arsenal will go through because they’re going to score.”
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Ferdinand continued: “How is Mikel Arteta going to prepare this team to approach this game? I think that is going to be one of the key factors in this game.
“Does he go out there and go, ‘Let’s be defensive, let’s protect, let’s just sit and hold what we’ve got’, or does he go, ‘You know what? Let’s take it to them because if we score they’ve got to get four! They’ve got to score five to beat us and when have we conceded five?’… that’s what I’d do.
“I’d go out there and go, ‘Listen, let’s go, toe to toe!'”
Ferdinand carried on: “I’ve witnessed it too many times in the last few Champions League seasons… teams have been 2-0 up, thinking it’s cool, and then all of a sudden, that madness just happens.
“They’re [Madrid] just sucking the ball into the goal.”
The Man Utd legend reckons Arsenal are still in the process of “proving” themselves on the big stage ahead of their match against Real Madrid.
Ferdinand explained: “I think they’re in the moment of proving they are okay and good in the big occasions.
“They’ve not won anything to suggest that the big occasions are where they come alive.
“You only get that kind of stature once you’ve started dominating those big games and winning those trophies and people go, ‘The big occasion comes, these guys: I standby them’.
“They’re in the process of proving that right now and they have got over some great hurdles. The 3-0 at home is a great hurdle.
“But if they go out in the next round, that game is just a DVD. That’s it.”
