Arsenal should have no fears about Real Madrid mounting a comeback in the Champions League as Roy Keane has declared the quarter-final tie as “over”.
The Gunners hold a remarkable 3-0 first-leg lead after a stunning night at the Emirates Stadium, which saw Declan Rice score two free kicks before Mikel Merino added a third goal.
Madrid have never come back from a three-goal deficit in a Champions League tie and, according to Opta, have just a four per cent chance of reaching the semi-finals.
The Spanish giants will still hold fear for most, though, having produced impressive comebacks in the competition previously on their way to a record-smashing 15 trophy wins.
But Keane believes Arsenal players and fans alike can rest easy at the Bernabeu next week.
“The game is over, Arsenal are 3-0 up and worried – relax,” he said on Stick to Football podcast (via standard.co.uk).
“This is not the great Real Madrid team. They’re not even going to win the league this year – this is a poor Real Madrid team.”
Gunners legend Ian Wright was less convinced, but believes Arsenal have put themselves in a fantastic position to reach the semi-finals.
He added: “It was an amazing game. I think everybody played well – [Jacob] Kiwior did very well and so did Thomas Partey. Especially [Bukayo] Saka, being 50% fit – he was amazing.
“The manager has always gone on about the group and their mentality and they had to show it in that game. There were times that I thought Real Madrid played well and the crowd were going off it in that place.
“Real Madrid have never come back from a 3-0 down in the first leg. They’ve never done that so hopefully we won’t be the first. However, they have players that can score goals quickly.”
