Thierry Henry would have been beaming after Arsenal’s 7-1 demolition of PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash.
Arsenal had plenty of reasons to celebrate their dominant victory.
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The Gunners hammered PSV Eindhoven 7-1 away on Tuesday in the first leg of their last-16 tie, practically securing their place in the last eight unless PSV pulls off a miraculous comeback.
Arsenal is likely to face one of the Madrid teams in the quarter-finals, with their last-16 clash delicately poised after Real Madrid narrowly defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu before the second leg next week.
The North London club could be strengthened by the returns of star players Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli from injury for the Champions League quarter-finals, with those matches scheduled for early April.
Henry feels that the return of these key players—combined with Arsenal being more or less out of the Premier League title race—means they can fully concentrate on the Champions League and potentially eliminate Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid next month.
‘Yes, [Arsenal] can [give the Madrid teams a run for their money],’ Gunners legend Henry said on CBS Sports. ‘I do believe that, this is why I called it.
‘I’m just saying now, show us that you can do that against a good team, with people that are coming back [from injury].
‘No disrespect to Eindhoven, I really thought it was going to be difficult, especially away from home but they made it look easy. I think they had an outstanding game as you can see with the result.
‘But, we all know that the [Premier] League is over. Apart if something crazy happens but what I’m trying to say is that this game can help maybe to be confident in this competition but [also] the game that you have after, Real Madrid or Atletico.
‘Sometimes I think the path to the final can at times help or not, but if you want to win the competition you have to go through these teams.’
Real Madrid is the most successful team in Champions League history, having won the trophy a record 15 times, including their recent victory over Borussia Dortmund in last season’s final.
Atletico Madrid have reached the final twice—losing to Real Madrid in both 2014 and 2016—but like Arsenal, they have never won the competition.
Arsenal achieved the highest position among the three teams in this season’s revamped Champions League league phase, finishing third, while Atletico placed fifth.
Real Madrid ended up in 11th, necessitating a play-off victory over Manchester City to secure their spot in the Champions League last 16.
