Arsenal route to Champions League final: Gunners must take down European heavyweights after difficult draw

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Evening Standard

·21 February 2025

Arsenal route to Champions League final: Gunners must take down European heavyweights after difficult draw

Arsenal could potentially face Liverpool in the semi-finals

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Arsenal have landed in the more difficult half of the Champions League bracket.

Their route to the final was mapped out after the last-16 draw on Friday, with Mikel Arteta’s side knowing they will almost certainly have to beat several European heavyweights if they are to make it all the way to Munich in May.

Arsenal will face PSV in the last-16, ending the possibility of a potential reunion with Robin van Persie. The former Arsenal striker is on the verge of taking charge at Feyenoord, who were one of Arsenal’s potential opponents, but it will instead be another Dutch side for the Gunners.

As a result of finishing in the top-eight in the league phase of the Champions League, Arsenal will have the advantage of playing the second leg of that tie at home.

Should the Gunners progress, things will swiftly become very tricky. Arteta’s side will take on either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals, in what would be a major test of their European credentials.

Real have not been at their best this season, but they swept aside Manchester City 6-3 on aggregate to reach the last-16, while Atletico are enjoying a strong campaign domestically and in Europe.

If Arsenal were to beat one of the Madrid clubs, they would play either PSG, Liverpool, Club Brugge or Aston Villa in the semi-finals.

Liverpool and PSG go head-to-head in the last-16 and the winner of that will be the strong favourite to reach the last-four and set up a potential clash with the Gunners.

The second leg of semi-final tie against Liverpool would take place just a few days before the sides then meet at Anfield in a pivotal Premier League showdown.

Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona are among those on the other side of the draw, with Barcelona arguably currently the strongest of those sides.

That could leave Arsenal taking on the Spanish giants in a repeat of the 2006 Champions League final