Mikel Merino sends Real Madrid warning and responds to question about Arsenal title failures

Arsenal star Mikel Merino has been speaking to Spanish media ahead of the club’s Champions League quarter-finals with Real Madrid. The Gunners face a tough route to the semi-finals, taking on the current champions of the competition, starting at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Gunners will go into that one still without a starting striker, while they have also lost starting centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes for the rest of the season. Merino has plugged the gap up top for the most part, and while he is not a striker, he is adapting to what Arteta is asking him to do at the top end of the pitch.

Arsenal are going to need Merino to measure up well against the likes of Antonio Rudiger if they are to progress to the next round, and that will be no easy task. But the Spaniard does have more experience than most at facing Real Madrid and playing at the Bernabeu.

“When the draw came out, I spoke with my Madrid teammates, but nothing in detail,” he told Marca, previewing the Los Blancos clash. “The Bernabeu always has that energy to where you have to be aware and concentrate until the very last minute, whether that’s 90 or 120 in the second leg. That stadium and that team always believes and they have confidence until the end.

“My best experience there was in the Copa del Rey in 2020. In the final 10 minutes, they they everything at us but in the end we were able to progress. They bring it all in the chaotic final stages and for us it’s essential to control that chaos in the final minutes.”

Working with Arteta

Merino also spoke about his experience working with Arteta so far having arrived from Real Sociedad in the summer. He added: “I am learning a lot with him, with things that I haven’t worked on before in my career, and I am understanding another way to see football and to be able to grow. Mikel has learned from the best in Pep Guardiola in his years with him, and he has the idea of wanting to be the dominant team, to not let the opponent have the ball, to restrict and limit their attacks. Then, Mikel has his own methodology and that allows him to be one of the best coaches in the world.”

Asked about the lack of title success Arteta has managed at Arsenal so far, the midfielder responded: “It’s the first time that I have been with a group that is always trying to win all the available titles, and that speaks to the ambitious mentality that the club has.

“The process at Arsenal is geared to win, not to finish second, although there have been two back-to-back seasons finishing second in the Premier League. But we don’t settle. Here we want and are working towards winning big titles. It’s out fuel to keep trying. To win is difficult, but we are close to achieving it and I hope we can this year.”

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