Real Madrid Champions League hero confident Santiago Bernabéu will help produce comeback win against Arsenal

The hero of Real Madrid’s last Champions League escape act is confident Carlo Ancelotti’s men can repeat the feat against Arsenal tomorrow night.

Madrid were heading out of the competition against Bayern Munich in last season’s semi-finals when trailing 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu with two minutes of normal time remaining.

But substitute Joselu, thrown on by Ancelotti 10 minutes earlier, grabbed an equaliser after Manuel Neuer had made a mess of Vinicius Jr’s shot and then, in injury time, scored again by diverting home Antonio Rudiger’s cross.

Madrid went on to win their 15th European Cup/Champions League crown by easing past Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

Believe in the power of the Bernabeu – Joselu

Joselu, who now plays in Qatar for Al-Gharafa, believes the power of the Bernabeu can spark another comeback for the ages as Madrid look to overturn the 3-0 hammering they suffered in North London last week.

He told AS: “I always believe in the comeback. Look, there is one thing that is clear and that is that if there is a club in the world capable of doing something like that, it is Real Madrid. Of course there are possibilities. Whenever you talk about Real Madrid, there are possibilities. 

“As [Toni] Kroos said the other day, having drawn at Arsenal would have been strange for Madrid because it would not have to come back. It will be a complicated task, but there is a team that can achieve it and that is Real Madrid.”

Score early and it’s game on

Mikel Arteta’s team talk should be relatively straightforward: keep the crowd quiet for the first 20 minutes and grow into the game from there.

And that is exactly what Joselu wants Madrid to counter.

“I think the first thing Madrid has to do is score a goal as soon as possible and the Bernabéu will do the rest,” he added. 

“Even going to extra-time, Madrid always start as favourites.”