Who Arsenal will face in Champions League last 16 | OneFootball

Gunners will be pleased with their potential opponents

Arsenal now know their two potential opponents in the Champions League last 16.

Arsenal recorded impressive wins over Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan during the league phase to guarantee a top-eight finish with two games to spare.

A top two finish was then made official after a 3-1 victory in the San Siro, meaning Arsenal are now assured of hosting the second legs in all of their knockout matches.

Who Arsenal will face in Champions League last 16?

Arsenal’s progression straight through to the last 16 means they were able to avoid a fixture congestion in February, though their re-arranged Premier League fixture against Wolves did not go to plan.

The last-16 draw takes place on Friday, February 27. The first leg of those ties will be played on either March 10 or March 11, with the return fixtures a week later.

As a result of finishing first in the league phase, Arsenal will face the winners of the play-offs involving the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th seeds.

With the knockout phase play-offs reaching its conclusion on Wednesday night, Arsenal’s potential opponents for the last 16 has been narrowed down from four to two.

The Gunners will face either Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen.

Both German sides took a 2-0 lead into their respective knockout phase play-offs second legs with Leverkusen playing out a goalless draw at home to Olympiacos on Tuesday night to reach the round of 16 for a second season in a row.

It was far less straightforward for Dortmund, who threw away their advantage before half-time of the second leg, and then went further behind before Karim Adeyemi looked to have forced extra time.

However, a terrible clearance from Gregor Kobel, which was followed by a hugely reckless foul from Ramy Bensebaini on Nikola Krstovic, saw Atalanta awarded a penalty in the final minute of second-half stoppage time... and Lazar Samardzic duly stepped up to send Atalanta into the last-16 stage.

The first leg takes place after Arsenal face Mansfield in the FA Cup fifth round, thus making it three away games in a row for Arteta’s side following a Premier League clash against Brighton on March 4.

A home match against Everton, which could be rearranged, is Arsenal’s fixture before the second leg and then it’s on to the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.