Arsenal’s possible Champions League opponents – Who do we want to face?
After winning the group which consisted of Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Olympiakos, Arsenal will now be put into pot 1 in the Champions league draw. Here we would face one of the group runners up in the first knockout round of the Champions League. I shall now analyse every possible opponent we could face in the two legged top 16 matchup.
Napoli: The Italian team is after all responsible if Man City’s exit in the Champions League. Napoli may not sound like much but they are indeed the real deal. However, if Arsenal face them, we could stand a good chance in progressing.
Serie A position last season: 3rd
CSKA Moscow: Finishing second in the group only to Inter, CSKA Moscow is a force to be reckoned with. Anyway, Arsenal does have history in beating the Russians and drawing them would not be too bad a thing.
Russian League position last season: 2nd
FC Basel: I am praying so hard Arsenal would not get drawn with Basel. Coming off a group which consists of both Benifca and Manchester United, Basel showed real character in their last game to beat United and knock them out. Our young guns may falter against the Swiss Champions.
Swiss Super League position last season: 1st
Lyon: The way Lyon qualified for the Champions league was nothing short of amazing. I remembered looking at the table and I thought surely that Ajax would qualify but that was before Lyon came out with a stunning 7-1 victory over Zagreb on matchday 6 while Ajax faltered at home to Real Madrid 3-0. If Arsenal draw them, it would be a tough fight though I feel the gunners would come out on top eventually.
Ligue 1 position last season: 3rd
Bayer Leverkusen: Coming off a tough group with Chelsea and Valencia, Leverkusen are now full of confidence and they could well progress rather far in the competition. Hopefully Arsenal would not draw them.
Bundesliga position last season: 2nd
Zenit St Petersburg: The prospect of flying to a cold Russia to face Zenit away may sound intimidating but away from home Zenit is a rather weakened side. Furthemore, group winners would play the away leg first so it will be beneficial if Arsenal draw Zenit.
Russian League position last season: 1st
Ac Milan: The scariest prospect of all teams. The only reason why Milan did not top their group was because they were drawn with Barcelona. Hopefully Arsenal would not draw Milan again like in 2007 or we face the prospect of an early exit.
Serie A position last season: 1st
Hopefully, Arsenal would be able to get a favourable draw to propel us far into the competition. My top 3 choices would be CSKA Moscow, Lyon or Zenit St Petersburg.
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We can beat any team in europe.Don’t be scared admin.We are more dan just a team.Arsenal 4 lyf
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
62 
2
I think AC Milan seems like the only real treat to Arsenal. However, I believe Arsenal CAN and WILL go next stage no matter of who we are playing just because we are that good.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
46 
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we can beat anyone in europe,evntho if it wud be against barca.don’t show our fear,cus we are the gooner and try to gun evry one of them.like wgat we did at 2006.even a ugly win wud b aceptable-such as 1-0 to real madrid with henry magic throughout the competition.and we shud b the champ that night when we lose 2-1 to barca.
However now we hv mr. robiiin!! he cn lead us through evrythng.with tv5, song.. go gunners!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
11 
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We’re meeting Milan – I can feel it in my bones!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
35 
3
It doesnt mata who we meet, i believe we can buldoze our way against any team wit d confidence in d team.up gunners
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
19 
0
No time to be scared. We have quality and heart in our team. A combination for success. Time to lock and load boys.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
13 
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am 90 per cent sure dat arsenal will go through all dis counted teams to d next round, milan is a little bit threat. Die for gunnerz….
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8 
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We can beat all of those teams.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
22 
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FC Basel don’t stand a chance against the gunners!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
32 
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admin i tell you no team wants to play this arsenal team becuse we have the best striker rigth now…Ac millan cant play arsenal because of the way we play
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
14 
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none of those teams other than napoli and milan will pose any threat whatsoever (ESPECIALLY NOT BASEL), and even Napoli and milan are beatable, and if were going to win the champions league, we are going to have to beat the big boys
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
23 
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I would prefer FC Basel…Though I would not mind any Italian team. We got a perfect record in Italy remember.A trip to Russia would tire the squad.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
14 
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I don’t think saying “we prefer Moscow,Lyon ETC” is the best,let’s learn to be ready to beat every one. What if we are to play the finals with Barca or Madrid.To me every stage is thesame as the finals so let’s be ready to face anyone. UP GUNNERS.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
11 
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many of you guys say we can beat all, talk out of your passion for the team and not the realistic factors
Lets face the fact that although we were first in our group, we didnt win even one match comfortably. Our goal difference after 3 wins, 2 draws and one loss was +1 only.
So lets hope that we get likes of Zenit, CSKA and Basel
Lyon and Leverkusen should be ok
Napoli and worst of all AC will be difficult
I agree we can beat all but still lets hope for an easy draw
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
11 
1
any one except AC Milan.
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6 
0
Arsenal is a big club that plays quality football……they have been taking Barcelona for the post 4 seasons….they can take on anyone now….not scared at all…….bring it on
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
15 
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we should take on AC milan, As we have a good history against the Italian sides.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
10 
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@mehrzad,totally agreed but easiest of all could be russian clubs
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6 
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IT’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL, SO NO TEAM SHOULD BE UNDERESTIMATED.
Both Mancunian teams didn’t respect their opposition in their respective groups, and due to their arrogance they copped a knockout by a Rope-a-dope Europa blow!
I’m not not fussed over who we get. I hope we don’t meet AC Milan, not because they’re a tough side, but we need their competitive services to knock out other big teams such as Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern. It would be a gift for Arsenal to see other big names kill each other. Don’t be surprised if David can slay Goliath again in the Final 16 round
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
15 
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fc basel?? jst mark their main man shaqiri, napoli hamsik, song cn do that. b cnfidence bt hope an easier one,so the players cn hv much rest.wat good is the scond leg at home,and we shud go pass this last 16 to last 8.tke a step by step at a time.
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3 
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Arsenal should be prepared to beat any opponent,thats why its called CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. We should think and play like champions or forget the trophy.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
10 
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I would not mind playing any of those teams.
Remember, Arsenal is the first English team to win in Milan.
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7 
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I would love Basle not that I consider them inferior to the other teams but just so that we can beat them and show manure how its supposed to be done.
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8 
0
we must beat any team to progress the tropy is comming to emirate this time by the grace of god
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3 
1
Dis is d champions league so d gunners shld b prepared 2 face any of d underlist teams, b it milan, napoli or lyon, lets jst b ready. Up gunners
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3 
0
I Believe the gunners can do it irrespective of the team we meet. i even prefer a tougher opposition for the gunners, thereby bringing out the best 4rm the young guns. come on GUNNERS.
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0 
1
Dis s champions league no tean shud b undaestimated bt our current team can beat all d runners up dat we likely 2 face.FEAR NOT.GUNNERS 4 LIFE
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0 
1
if we can’t beat any team in CL,then why bother play? we need to believe ARSENAL is very strong side and it is a great threat to any1. in fact i wish ARSENAL meet Milan in the nxt draw so when we beat them we will show the world how ARSENAL is a BIG team. lets not forget Arsenal is the only team defeated barca last year and til now they could not beat us at Home. if we cant win CL i would rather lose now than later. because in any competition there is only 1 team will be remembered, THE WINNER. it does not matter whether u r out in the 16 or finished 2nd. We want to win it and we want to win it proudly by knocking out the big teams. UP THE GUNNNNNNNNERS
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3 
1
We don’t want either of the russian teams. Bayer Leverkusen would be best for us in my opinion.
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2 
1
Milan are not a threat. Only one i dont want is Napoli
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3 
2
Zenit so we can leave arshavin there!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
10 
0
Napoli n Milan surely the most threatening, basel is a joke, we’ll crush’em for sure… just hope we dont draw napoli n milan, i know we have to beat all team, but if we get some weaker ones, it would help ! lol
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2 
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When is the draw?
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1 
1
from the way we play, no other team can cause threat to us except fabregas’ team now
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1 
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Hi faithful fans, i would prefer napoli cos when we were shot of riffles , we stil gun down udinesse.
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0 
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i would prefer basel over lyon
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1 
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friday
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0 
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the most important thing, i want arsenal to kick barca’s ass!!! i dont care whoever we have to meet now..just go and win!!
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