Real Madrid have Arsenal and Mikel Arteta to thank for beating Manchester City in the Champions League

Real Madrid managed to pull off what for many seemed unthinkable on Wednesday night, beating Manchester City on home soil. Los Blancos lasted until penalties, and took their chances when they had, inspired by Andriy Lunin, but they were also inspired by Mikel Arteta.

According to Brand in Madrid, the two main analysts in Real Madrid, assistant coach Davide Ancelotti and fitness coach Francesco Mauri, spent hours studying ways to upset Pep Guardiola's side. The method they settled on was Mikel Arteta's method, borrowed from Arsenal0-0 draw with City on April 31. Although Carlo Ancelotti makes all the decisions, his son and Mauri tend to present him with options, and he reached the quarter-finals.

They could well have faced Arteta's tactics themselves in the semi-finals, had it not been for a Joshua Kimmich header at the Allianz Arena, meaning Bayern Munich will be their semi-final opponents final. There is plenty of evidence on tape of how to beat Bayern this season, as shown most recently by Heidenheim. However, Thomas Tuchel has shown that he has an appreciation of European football not too far behind the likes of Guardiola and Ancelotti.

Image via Oscar J. Barroso / AFP7 / Europa Press