Arsenal took a giant step towards the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League with a 3-0 win over Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers will have been on Gunners-watch ahead of Double Gameweek 33, when Mikel Arteta’s troops play twice.
Players from the red half of north London will also feature in some FPL managers’ Bench Boost teams in Gameweek 32.
Unfortunately for most concerned, last night’s game raises more questions than answers.
TUESDAY’S RESULT
| OPPONENT | RESULT | GOALS | ASSISTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | v Real Madrid (h) | 3-0 win | Rice x2, Merino | Saka x2, Lewis-Skelly |
TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION
| STARTING XI CHANGES FROM THEIR LAST MATCH | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACES (MINS) | OTHER MINS FOR SELECTED PLAYERS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 5 | Raya (90), Saliba (90), Kiwior (90), Lewis-Skelly (90), Merino (90), Rice (80) | Timber (90), Partey (90), Martinelli (90), Odegaard (90), Saka (74), Trossard (16), Tierney (10), White (1) |
SAKA + RICE KNOCKS
Bukayo Saka (£10.4m) was given his first competitive start of 2025 on Tuesday, getting through 74 minutes.
The trademark ‘Saka limp’ was in evidence as he made his way off the field but Mikel Arteta didn’t seem too concerned after full-time, even saying “he’s fine” in an interview with Amazon Prime.
“He’s fine, I think it was a kick on the free-kick action.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka, to Amazon Prime
“I think Dec had an issue with his foot, I don’t know if it was a tackle or what it was, and Bukayo was after he got tackled on the foul, I think he had a knock and he had to go.” – Mikel Arteta on Declan Rice + Bukayo Saka, in his post-match press conference
As Arteta also mentioned above, two-goal Declan Rice (£6.2m) also came off with 10 minutes remaining. Again, there didn’t seem to be too much worry.
In the words of Football London, “both players were spotted walking fine around the Emirates Stadium at full-time”.
Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) also hit the turf before his substitution in injury time. We didn’t get an update on him but from television pictures (always a dangerous game guessing based on this), it did look more like cramp at the time.
SAKA IMPRESSES – BUT DOES ANOTHER GAMEWEEK 32 BENCHING BECKON?
Saka was eye-catching on his return. There were no shots from the winger but plenty of influential play, with two twinkle-toed runs resulting in free-kicks that Rice superbly dispatched. An early teasing cross from Saka also evaded teammates as he caused problems down Real’s left.
Arsenal fans will never forget these two 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 free-kicks… 🤩💫#UCLonPrime pic.twitter.com/DatgM9KUtK
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) April 9, 2025
Not many signs of rust, then, but you do wonder – even with the handsome first-leg lead – whether Arteta is going to wrap him in cotton wool for the Bernabeu.
The Arsenal boss was quick to mention that Tuesday was only “half-time” in this quarter-final. Real have a rich history of Champions League comebacks, too, overturning several seemingly insurmountable deficits.
It won’t just be Saka at risk this weekend. The outfield players that you can be most confident about starting in Gameweek 32 are probably William Saliba (£6.4m) and Jakub Kiwior (£4.8m), with Arsenal short of other centre-backs. Ben White (£6.1m) is a possibility in that position but you’d imagine he comes in for Timber against Brentford.
The league title isn’t mathematically gone but having effectively hoisted the white flag with his line-up in Gameweek 31, will Arteta reverse that approach now that Liverpool are 11 points clear rather than 12?
Minutes for Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.8m), Kieran Tierney (£4.3m), Jorginho (£4.6m), Leandro Trossard (£6.7m), Ethan Nwaneri (£4.5m) and Raheem Sterling (£6.7m) potentially beckon on Saturday.
Longer term, should Arsenal avoid catastrophe in Madrid, there will be concerns about the game-time of Arsenal’s regulars in Gameweek 35, which is sandwiched by the Champions League semi-finals.
MERINO BACK UP TOP
Having operated initially as an ‘eight’ in Gameweek 31, Mikel Merino (£6.1m) was back up top at the Emirates. A superbly taken 75th-minute curler from the Spaniard put the icing on the cake for the Gunners.
That was Merino’s sixth goal in nine games as a centre-forward, a run that started with his substitute appearance up front at Leicester City in Gameweek 25. He’s obviously not the long-term solution in attack but he’s not half doing badly.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (£4.5m) teed up that goal and was another star on Tuesday, with Madrid unable to cope with his inversions into midfield.
There wasn’t a plethora of goalmouth action in north London. The big open-play chances that fell Arsenal’s way arrived in clumps: Rice and Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m) being denied in the same move in the 43rd minute, Martinelli and Merino (twice) thwarted in quick succession midway through the second half.
Real’s threats were fleeting and mostly came before the break. Looking dangerous on the transition, they failed to capitalise on some excellent positions with tame shots and wayward final passes.
A fine Arsenal display, then, but one that will do little to assuage game-time concerns in Gameweek 32/33 – and potentially cause headaches beyond that.
