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Arsenal has a 3-0 lead over Real Madrid, but the tie is a long way from being settled.
Arsenal will enter its second leg quarter final Champions League clash against Real Madrid with a whopping three-goal advantage.
Thanks to a sensational display in the first leg at the Emirates, Arsenal has a big cushion to take to Spain with Madrid having to score more than 3 goals and keep the Gunners goalless in the process to win.
And that isn't out of the realm of possibility either.
That is what makes the opening stages of the game so critical to the outcome.
If Arsenal play well, and sneak a goal (Real will come out breathing fire), then the tie, being 4-0, will be as good as over. But if it is Madrid that scores early, then it is well and truly game on.
So while the Gunners have a good three-goal lead, it can't look past the Spanish giants, and we don't think they will, given the enormity of the ocassion and the semi final carrot dangling in front of them.
Arsenal must take attacking mindset to Madrid
With all the outside noise of Arsenal and its first leg heroics, Madrid might be seen as the underdogs and if that thought process starts to infiltrate the squad, that is a recipe for disaster.
"It's impossible," Arteta said on blocking out the outside noise via arsenal.com. "Outside no, we can't do it on the pitch now. I understand that it's a narrative that is going to give the feel to them."
Given that the Gunners are strangers to being this far in the competition, as Arsenal has only made the Champions League semi-finals twice, and under Arteta, there is a great chance to make it a third time.
But only if the squad comes prepared the right way both physically and mentally because this will be the biggest test of everything that Arteta has built over the last four to five years.
A three-goal cushion, on the road, against the defending champs, it doesn't get much better than that.
Arsenal did all the hard work in the first leg and come in with a three-goal lead, and for all the outside noise about "what if they progress" there is still 90 minutes of football left to play.
Focus on that, and the results will come.