Real Madrid's two attacking stars, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, have both played brilliantly in the Champions League this season. Facing another English side, Manchester City, Vinicius dominated the first leg in Manchester, while Mbappe also completed his mission with a hat-trick at the Bernabeu.
At the Emirates, both players had moments - especially in the first half - when they were strong enough to decide the outcome of the match. However, both could not make the most of the opportunities they had and put Los Blancos in a difficult situation.
Mbappe and Vinicius each had 3 shots. However, none of them really tested the talent of goalkeeper David Raya in the Arsenal goal. These were all situations with inaccurate finishing or not good enough to be necessary.
Real Madrid are not the team that needs to dominate possession to win. With two players rich in speed and technique like Mbappe and Vinicius, they even gave the control of the game to the opponent. Los Blancos will focus on counter-attacks as Mbappe and Vinicius find space up front.
And many times in the first half, that was exactly what happened. Arsenal lost the ball easily, creating conditions for Real Madrid to counterattack. Somehow Mbappe and Vinicius both found space to move.
Mbappe had a chance to escape to the left wing that should have led to the opening goal of the match. Instead, the French striker's shot was too light.
Overall, Mbappe still made a big enough impact on the pitch, the problem was just the final finishing step. However, the contrast between an overthrown Vinicius and a shining Bukayo Saka for Arsenal is surprising.
0 goals, 0 assists, 0 shots on target, 0 chances created, 0 successful dribbles and 0 accurate crosses. That was Vinicius' statistics in the 0-3 loss to Arsenal.
The Brazilian player could not show his speed and technical skills. Instead, they made awkward moves, continuously losing the ball and not creating any dangerous opportunities.
Obviously, both Mbappe and Vinicius need to quickly regain their form and fighting spirit, despite the "White Vultures" having low chances of a comeback.
"This season's squad is different from previous seasons. I always think good players have to come on. However, we don't always make a tight squad. We had to play against a very strong opponent, play hard and have good physical strength" - Ancelotti said after the loss to Arsenal.
