Mariona Caldentey claims that ‘Arsenal can beat anyone’ ahead of Real Madrid clash

Mariona Caldentey sat down with the media ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The Spaniard believes that on their day, the Gunners could beat any team in the world.

Before she became a stalwart for Arsenal, Mariona Caldentey was one of Barcelona’s brightest stars.

The Ballon d’Or runner up spent a decade with the Catalan club which makes Arsenal’s Champions League game against Real Madrid this week even more important to the midfielder.

Speaking to the media ahead of matchday four, Caldentey impressed the importance of this game to her.

“For me it will be always special to play against Real Madrid. I’m a Barca kid. I have been at Barca for 10 years, so that’s a big reality.” She said. “I’m excited. I think we have a really good chance to show everyone and ourselves what we want to do and they are a big team, so I’m really excited to play against them.”

– Wednesday, 19 November 2025

“We saw it last year. In the first leg, we weren’t good enough, they smashed us and then the second leg we were good and then we hurt them. So I think it will be about us if we are in our best performance, I believe and I know we can hurt them.”

Arsenal lost 2-0 on the road to Madrid in the quarter-final last year, but they bounced back at the Emirates with a 3-0 win and a Caldentey goal sending them through to the semis.

As the Champions League holders, it is no surprise that Arsenal are confident coming up against anyone.

Caldentey believes that the Gunners could best any club in the world over 90 minutes and it is hard to disagree with the 29-year-old.

“I think our learning is that we need to be focused the 90 minutes and that when we are good, we can beat anyone. But at the same time, when we are not fully focused, and the other things can hurt us as well. I think we need to take it positive because it’s gone and we can’t change it anymore. But we can improve and we are reviewing our games.

“What we can do better in the high press, how we can attack better with the ball, and hopefully, like, we can show tomorrow what we want to do,” she concluded.

Caldentey has already won four Champions League titles in her career – three at Barca and one with Arsenal.

– Saturday, 24 May 2025

Having been so important for Real Madrid’s bitter rivals in their three European titles between 2021 and 2024, a win for Caldentey against Madrid this week would be a sweet one.