Thierry Henry believes Arsenal are fully capable of beating Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in a potential Champions League quarter-final clash.
The Gunners thumped PSV Eindhoven 7-1 away from home on Tuesday in the first leg of their last-16 showdown to all-but confirm their spot in the last eight, unless the Dutch side produce an unprecedented comeback.
Arsenal are set to face one of the Madrid teams in the quarter-finals, with their last-16 clash firmly in the balance after Real narrowly beat their rivals 2-1 at the Bernabeu before the second leg matches take place next week.
The north Londoners could be boosted by the returns of star players Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli from injury for the Champions League quarter-finals, with those ties not taking place until the start of April.
Henry feels the return of that duo – mixed with Arsenal being more or less out of the Premier League title race – means they can fully focus on the Champions League and could eliminate Real or Atletico next month.
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‘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 are the most successful team in the history of the Champions League, having clinched the trophy a record 15 times, while they are also the current holders after defeating Borussia Dortmund in last season’s final.
Atletico have reached the final twice – losing to Real in both 2014 and 2016 – but like Arsenal, the Spanish side have never won the competition before.
Arsenal finished in the highest position of the three teams in this season’s new-look league phase of the Champions League – third – with Atletico fifth.
Real finished down in 11th, meaning they had to beat Manchester City in a play-off round before booking their spot in the Champions League last 16.