Arsenal will be hoping for German opposition in Champions League
Published:Arsenal will be hoping that luck is on their side when the draw is made for the knockout stages of the Champions League as they could only finish second in Group H.
Topping the group would have most likely handed them an easier assignment in the last 16 of the competition, but despite beating Partizan Belgrade in their final group game, this was not enough to finish above Shakhtar Donetsk.
Arsenal’s betting odds have lengthened to 16/1 to win the Champions League and who they are drawn to play in the last 16 will have a major role on how deep they go in the tournament.
With Arsenal having to face a group winner in the second round and not being permitted to face another English team, they are only left with four possible opponents.
Spanish giants Barcelona, who eliminated Arsenal emphatically last year, and Real Madrid will be two of the teams that Arsenal will be happy to avoid, but they will fancy their chances against the other pair.
Both of the other two teams are German and despite performing strongly in Europe, have been out of sorts domestically.
Bayern Munich and Schalke have been left behind by Dortmund in the Bundesliga standings and have weaknesses in defence that Arsenal should have no problem exploiting.
Arsenal’s record in Group H backs this up as they were the joint top scorers in the group stages with 18 goals in their six games, including 14 at home.
However, they may need to be stronger in defence on their travels as they are unlikely to continue to be as free-scoring in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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