Arsenal faced with massive opportunity against Real Madrid

Arsenal has been presented with a mammoth opportunity, but can it take advantage of it?

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side will face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, with the first leg at the Emirates giving the Gunners an almighty chance to tilt the scales in their favour.

With Bukayo Saka ramping up his return in the last two games, playing a total of 79 minutes after a three-month injury layoff, Arsenal, despite being held to a 1-1 draw away at Everton, is in a confident mood that something positive can be acheived against the Spanish giants.

Granted, it will be anything but easy, however with the Champions League being the only competition the Gunners can win this season, otherwise it will be another trophyless year, the stakes are high.

The Gunners can't go into the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with a two or three-goal deficit. At worst case, a draw for Arsenal is needed.

Arsenal face huge pressure in first leg

That puts a lot of pressure on the team to get everything right against Madrid because at this point of the competition, mistakes are magnified, and they can often mean the difference between winning and losing.

That is why this is the biggest game under Arteta's guidance and perhaps the biggest for the club in the last decade or even longer.

"100%," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "It's a joy to prepare the game, to look at them, just to look at the reaction of people and how we feel about ourselves coming into a game of this magnitude."

Having Saka back looms to be the ace in Arteta's deck with what No. 7 can do for the Gunners going forward being the key to if the side can manage a win.

Being at home, the onus will be on Arsenal to take it to the Spanish giants and to get a positive result, because having to beat Real in their own building in the return leg is nightmare fuel for fans to think about.

Anything other than a win won't put Arsenal in the best place to progress to the semi-finals, and that means handing Madrid a loss, with the Spanish side coming off a loss domestically to Valencia.

So, there is a weakness there. It's up to Arteta and Arsenal to find it.

READ ALL THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS HERE!!!