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Arsenal duo Martin Odegaard and William Saliba and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez

Martin Odegaard and William Saliba both wanted Real Madrid to win against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, with a report revealing why the Arsenal duo are looking forward to facing Los Blancos, as Oleksandr Zinchenko reveals his thoughts on playing against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Arsenal booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV in the Round of 16. Having won the first leg of the tie 7-1 in the Netherlands last week, Mikel Arteta’s side played out a 2-2 draw with the Eredivisie club at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening to set up a mouth-watering clash against Madrid for a place in the semi-finals.

The defending European champions got the better of city rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties in their Round of 16 tie.

Madrid beat their LaLiga rivals 2-1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg last week.

Atletico won the second leg 1-0 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Wednesday evening, and the tie eventually went to penalties.

Madrid won the shootout 4-2 after Atletico striker Julian Alvarez had a penalty ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR).

The defending Spanish champions will now head into the tie against Arsenal as favourites, but, according to Defensa Central, both Odegaard and Saliba wanted Los Blancos to win against Atletico.

Arsenal recognise that facing Real will be a harder test than playing against Atletico in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.

However, Odegaard was supporting his former club because he wants to vindicate himself after failing to make a huge impact at the Bernabeu.

The Norway international made only 11 appearances for the Madrid first team, but his since his move to Arsenal in 2021, he has flourished and has established himself as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe.

For Saliba, playing against Madrid will allow him to show Los Blancos how good he is and what he would be able to add to the team.

Madrid are interested in a summer deal for the France international central defender and have already been in touch with his entourage.

Saliba knows that the Spanish giants’ president, Florentino Perez, likes him, and realises that playing well against Madrid in the quarter-finals could be a boost for his signing by Los Blancos.

Oleksandr Zinchenko looks ahead to Arsenal vs Real Madrid

One Arsenal player who has openly commented about the prospect of playing against Madrid is Zinchenko.

The Ukraine international started in midfield for Arsenal in the second leg against PSV in north London on Wednesday evening.

The 28-year-old scored the opening goal for the Gunners in the 2-2 draw.

Zinchenko told Arsenal’s official website: “We should be proud of this.

“Of course, we are looking for something bigger, but this is what we need to prove on the pitch, not by talking. I think we are in a very interesting stage of the season where obviously every game is like a final.

“Real Madrid are one of the biggest clubs in the world, they’ve won this competition 15 times, and they have a lot of world-class players and experience.

“But we just need to show our best performances, and we are all looking forward to these games.”

Zinchenko was part of the Manchester City side that lost 6-5 on aggregate to Madrid in the knockout rounds in 2022.

When asked about it, the Ukrainian star noted: “Don’t remind me, please, it’s such a painful memory! But it’s an amazing experience.

“Especially for myself, being at that age to play at this stage and to have this experience. I’m really grateful for that. The only thing I can say is you cannot relax until it’s done.

“When you’re playing at this stage, you just need to be the best. If you want to win and achieve something, you need to be at your best level first and then you need to compete with the others.”

The former Manchester City winger is out of contract at Bayern Munich at the end of the season, and the Gunners want him as a free agent.

Berta also reportedly wants to sign Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams for Arsenal this summer.

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TeamTalk

Question 1

Martin Odegaard joined Arsenal in January 2021. Did Thomas Partey join before or after?