Real Madrid head coach Alberto Toril believes reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League is crucial to the team's progress together. 

Madrid welcome Arsenal, who are second in the Women's Super League, to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano in the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Tuesday. 

Toril has been in charge of Las Blancas since 2021 but is yet to win a major honour with the club, with Barcelona having dominated the domestic titles in Spain. 

They finished second in Group B behind Sonia Bompastor's Chelsea, and have reached the final eight of the competition for the second time during Toril's tenure. 

This will be the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides, though Madrid are winless in six previous meetings with English sides in the Champions League, all of which have come against Chelsea (D2 L4).

And Toril is expecting another stern test against another strong outfit from the WSL, but is confident his players can go one step further than they did back in 2021-22. 

"I expect a close tie between two teams that are doing really well. I'm really looking forward to this quarter-final," Toril said.

"This is the second time we have reached this stage, and getting to the semi-finals would be an important step in our progress. I think we're ready for it."

¡Últimos preparativos! pic.twitter.com/8E4r3jJ6IJ

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadridfem) March 17, 2025

Real have impressed in this year's competition, with only rivals Barcelona (26) scoring more goals than Toril's team (20) in this season's Champions League group stage. 

Arsenal, meanwhile, come into the game with a lot of confidence after being revitalised in the competition since Renee Slegers replaced Jonas Eidevall. 

The Gunners have won each of their last five Champions League games, their joint-longest ever winning streak in the competition (also five between September 2012 and March 2013). 

Arsenal have failed to win their last three away games in the knockout stage of the competition, however, (D1 L2), since beating Slavia Prague 5-2 in the 2019-20 round of 16.

But Toril said it was imperative that his players remained fully focused across both legs to ensure they progress to the semi-final stage. 

"My players will need to get to grips with the key moments of each leg of the tie. There will be many matches within the match itself," Toril added.

"We have to control the situations and take the game to where it suits us, starting with possession, being well-positioned so as to not afford them too much space, stretching the game out and always being in it."