Quantcast
Home   >   News   >   Possible Champions League opponents for table-topping Arsenal

Possible Champions League opponents for table-topping Arsenal

By on December 7, 2016

Arsenal pulled off a minor miracle last night after beating Basel 4-1 in Switzerland to finish top of our Champions League group.

Lucas Perez scored a superb hat-trick to help secure a vital three points at the St Jakob-Park and with Ludogorets holding Paris Saint-Germain to a surprise 2-2 draw in Paris, we snatched top spot in Group A.

Thoughts now turn to the last 16 draw and who we could possibly face in the knockout stages. Obviously there are still eight games to be played tonight so three of our potential opponents are yet to be decided.

Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich are all guaranteed as they finished second in their groups while it will be one of Borussia Dortmund or Real Madrid, Porto or Copenhagen and Juventus or Sevilla.

As things stand, Madrid sit second in Group F but that could change as they host Dortmund at the Bernabeu tonight so I fancy the Spaniard’s to win and snatch top spot meaning Dortmund would be a possible opponent for us.

Porto are in pole position to take second in Group G. Their last game is at home to Leicester and with Claudio Ranieri expected to field a weakened side having already secured first, I expect the Portuguese giants to qualify ahead of Copenhagen.

Juventus currently top Group H and as they host Dinamo Zagreb tonight, they will surely secure the win they need to guarantee top spot meaning Sevilla will almost certainly be one of Arsenal’s possible opponents.

So, let’s assume the result go as expected tonight, our six possible opponents in Monday’s draw will be Benfica, Bayern, Leverkusen, Dortmund, Porto and Sevilla.

Obviously the two to avoid are Bayern and Dortmund [or Madrid]. Sevilla look to be a dangerous side this season too while Benfica are formidable at home so they could be tricky ties but I think it’s safe to say we’d be buzzing with either Leverkusen or Porto.

However, as long as we don’t draw Bayern or Dortmund I’ll be happy. We’ve played both teams countless times in recent years so let’s give the fans somewhere different to travel to!