So last night we found out all about who our opponents could potentially be, as the last of the Champions League round of 16 games were played and it was Atleti and Dortmund who advanced to the quarter finals, which means we’ll get one of:

  • Atlético de Madrid
  • Barcelona
  • Bayern München
  • Borussia Dortmund
  • Manchester City
  • Paris Saint-Germain
  • Real Madrid

In terms of order of preference for me, I’d probably say:

  • Barcelona
  • Atlético de Madrid
  • Borussia Dortmund
  • Paris Saint-Germain
  • Bayern München
  • Real Madrid
  • Manchester City

I’ve picked it in that order but for a few it doesn’t really matter to me, if I’m honest, because at this stage of the competition you’re always going to get tough games. But the first two represent clubs that I would prefer revenge over. Barcelona for sure because for years we came up against peak Barca who would have Messi et al and it just felt like we never really stood a chance. And even before him we got all the way to the final and had ourselves hamstrung by red card, followed by hopes dashed in the latter stages of that final. Then we also had the joke of corrupt refereeing sending van Persie off one second after the whistle had blown for a second yellow. Then, in the Europa League just at the end of Arsene’s time, when it would have been really nice for him to bag a European trophy, we bowed out in the semi final after Atleti had bowed out of the Champions League and been given a second bite of the Europa League, they got fortunate at The Emirates when we battered them but they got a scabby last second goal.

In all of those games we were underdogs and we will probably be underdogs again with most of the teams we play, but this time around I have a belief in this crop of players that they have the technical and physical quality to play good football under Arteta. He needs it too. His European pedigree since joining us hasn’t been great, with knockout to Sporting last season, Villareal in 20/21, as well as going out to Olympiacos in 19/20 after he’d taken charge at the halfway point in that season. Last season was a penalty shootout so that could be forgiven and we should have beaten Sporting at home, but this season the shootout went our way and I just wonder what that might do to the belief in this team. We’re also the best iteration of Arsenal that I think Arteta has had; last season was amazing but we all knew the squad was thin when you scratch below the surface, whereas it feels like this season we’ve got a group of players who Arteta certainly trusts even more as a squad, as well as some returning players that we hope will make an impact. On Tuesday night we had Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe all on the bench. It feels like that selection of options is so much stronger than last season and when you add in to the mix Declan Rice, as well as Havertz hitting form, it feels like we have a bigger squad with the quality to step up in the bigger competition and against bigger teams.

As for the options of who we face aside from that top two, in reality I’m not too fussed until you get down to the end. I don’t particularly want to play City over two legs, especially as we have to play them in the league, plus Real Madrid have that amazing record with Ancelotti in charge. There’s Bayern to think about, but with Tuchel leaving at the end of the season I wonder what impact that has, plus they aren’t the force they once were. Yeah, they’d have Harry Kane to get his inevitable dive and penalty against us, but aside from that I think we have a defence and a team strong enough to overcome them over two legs. PSG and Dortmund I have no real feelings over so I’d be fine with either of them to be honest.

So there you have it. It’s a draw full of big names, but my hope is that we can chin one of them over two legs and let’s see if we can make it to the semi final of the competition. We’ve overcome one psychological barrier in the Round of 16 hoodoo that we had hanging over us, so why not overcome a team-based hoodoo in the next round? I have enough belief in this team that it wouldn’t surprise me; they enjoy knocking down psychological barriers so lets bring it on!

Let’s also have a bit of a cheer for Benjamin White, who by the sounds of it the club will announce his signature at some stage, according to David Ornstein. It’s great news for a player bang in form and in 2024 he’s been one of our best, in my opinion, so I’m well happy with that. And it’s another player who has been tied down by the club, as the plan for these collective of players is to keep them around for a few years together to see how far they can go. I love it.

There’s not really a lot else on other than some spurious transfer noises about a potential ‘keeper coming in if we sell Ramsdale, but I don’t particularly want to get in to that too much. Instead, if you fancy listening in to yet more Arsenal-related content following that dramatic Porto win, look no further than the two James’ talking about the game on last night’s review show on the Same Old Arsenal pod. Have a listen here if you want to re-live the memories. As for me, I’m outta here for today. Back tomorrow with more thoughts.