Arsenal fans will be happy with UEFA's official announcement for Real Madrid clash

Arsenal are now preparing for Tuesday night’s huge Champions League clash with Real Madrid. The Gunners welcome the current Champions League champions to the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of the quarter-final, with the second leg taking a place a week later at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Having dropped out of the Premier League title race, Arsenal will be determined to all the way in the Champions League for the first time in their history, but it will be no easy task. Not only do Arsenal have to beat a La Liga title contender and the current champions of the competition over two legs, but they must do so without a striker and one of their starting centre-backs.

The Gunners have been limping through the campaign over recent weeks without a frontman, while Gabriel Magalhaes was ruled out for the season in the run up to the Everton game. Arsenal went on to draw with Everton, with Jakub Kiwior playing at centre-back alongside William Saliba, and Mikel Arteta will have some big personnel decisions to make going into this one.

Real Madrid have injury issues of their own, but they will get starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois back here having had to rely on their youngest available option Fran Gonzalez for their shock home defeat to strugglers Valencia on Saturday, conceding a winner five minutes into stoppage time.

UEFA confirm referee for Arsenal vs Real Madrid

Looking ahead to the clash between Arsenal and Los Blancos, UEFA have now confirmed the referee who will be in charge. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Irfan Peljto will be the man in the middle The 40-year-old referee has only refereed two previous games involving Arsenal, and they were both wins, which is good news for anyone who enjoys reading into omens.

The Gunners had Peljto in charge for a 1-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in the 2022/23 Europa League campaign, while he was also in charge for a Europa League group stage win over Molde in 2020.

It is, however, worth keeping in mind that Real Madrid also have a 100% record with Peljto in charge, albeit they have only previously had him for one game. He was in charge for Los Blancos’ Champions League quarter-final win over RB Leipzig in the 2023/24 season, a game Real Madrid won 1-0 away from home.

Peljto doesn’t have a wealth of experience in the Champions League knockout stages, but he has been a regular in this competition over the last couple of seasons.

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