Stats company Opta gives Arsenal an 89.7% chance of progressing to the semi-finals, and Real have lost five games in the competition this season – a tally that equals a club record.

“Every single time Madrid did a miracle, the preview said it is not possible,” said Guillem Balague on the EuroLeagues podcast.

“But on this occasion, you are talking about a team that don’t defend well, there is no architecture in the midfield, there are no patterns. They depend a lot on the individuals, as always. They haven’t got a capacity to react.

“There are so many details that suggest it is not possible for them to turn this around, including the amount of running they do – they ran 12km less than Arsenal [in the first leg].

“They are still not players who do the work defensively. They think they can just switch on at any minute and turn any game around, and I don’t think that’s possible, not with this team.”

Fellow pundit Julien Laurens agreed, telling BBC’s Football Daily podcast: “To get this win, Real Madrid need to do something more special than they have ever done.

“This Arsenal team is very good defensively, they are one of the best teams in Europe, even without Gabriel.

“Carlo Ancelotti has never been a manager for patterns of play. He is the king of man management and he lets the players express themselves on the pitch.

“But this season there does feel like there is no structure. It feels as though this is a group of super talented players individually, but not as a team. There’s not that togetherness or cohesion tactically. Unless they play as a team, I find it hard to believe they will overturn this.”