Arsenal can cautiously start to prepare for a potential Champions League last-16 meeting after Juventus and PSV Eindhoven were involved in the first play-off ties of the season. Mikel Arteta’s side are taking their chance to rest and recover.
Left without a game this week due to a premature FA Cup exit last month, Arsenal bypassed the need for a further two-legged knockout tie in Europe by finishing third in the group phase. They were behind only Barcelona and Liverpool at the summit of the 36-team league.
The top eight sides secured safe passage into the last-16, which starts in March. Meanwhile, there are some big guns left to battle it out to join them.
Real Madrid and Manchester City meeting on Tuesday night is the standout tie, but Bayern Munich, Milan, and Borussia Dortmund are all in qualification purgatory as well. Sporting CP, Paris Saint-Germain, and Atalanta are also playing for their place in the competition. Each of those European heavyweights have favourable play-off round matches ahead.
For Arsenal, the draw also confirmed their possible opponents for the next stage. Although it was only narrowed down to four teams, that is just two ties and the flow of the first leg gives an indication of how things might go.
On Wednesday night, when Liverpool and Everton are playing in the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, a game which will have a large bearing on the Premier League title race, Arsenal can view Feyenoord vs Milan. One of those two sides will be in contention to play Arteta’s men next up.
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