With the Champions League group stage now at an end, let’s look at all the details of the upcoming last-16 draw for Arsenal.
Arsenal finished top of their Champions League group on their first attempt under Mikel Arteta, and the Gunners will be rewarded with a place in the last-16 and a draw against one of the group runners-up.
The draw is set to take place on Monday, December 18th at 11:00 GMT, and it will be streamed live on UEFA.com.
The first leg of the last-16 will take place on February 13th, 14th, 20th, or 21st, with the second leg to be played on March 5th, 6th, 12th, or 13th. The second leg will be at home for Arsenal, as group winners.
There are a couple of restrictions on Arsenal’s potential opponents for the last-16. Firstly, the Gunners can’t draw the runner-up from their own group – PSV Eindhoven.
Secondly, Arsenal can’t face any team from their own national association. But since Manchester United and Newcastle United both failed to make the last-16, and Manchester City finished top of their group, that wasn’t on the cards anyway.
As a result, there are seven teams Arsenal can face:
- FC Copenhagen – Denmark
- Napoli – Italy
- Inter Milan – Italy
- Lazio – Italy
- Paris Saint-Germain – France
- RB Leipzig – Germany
- FC Porto – Portugal
The other group winners in the draw are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and FC Barcelona.
Arsenal will avoid all of the above for this round, but there will be no restrictions on the draw for the quarter-finals, if the Gunners can make it that far.