Full path of Arsenal to the Champions League final for the 2024/25 season.
Arsenal to PSV in the RO16 in the Champions League
The Gunners will take on PSV in the round of 16 of the Champions League this season. Their path to the final in Munich is now clear. They will surely face one of Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the last eight. They’re route towards the final in Germany isn’t going to be easy it seems.
Friday’s draw for the knockout stages has confirmed every team’s path to the final. The Gunners were aware that they will be facing either PSV or Feyenoord. But the rest of the bracket of fixtures was yet to be known with plenty of variations. They’ll will take on the Dutch side in the last sixteen. And then they’ll face one of the Madrid giants in the quarter final. Both Real and Atletico are fighting for the La Liga title this year with little margins. Both the Madrid sides have met in the finals twice in the history of the competition. First, they faced each other in 2014 and then in 2016. In both those occasions. Real took home the ultimate price.
Should they win their last eight fixtures, they’ll take on one of Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain. Club Brugge or Aston Villa. It means that there’s a chance of an all-English semi-final in the competition. They have been drawn on the other side of the bracket to the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. One of these two teams will be the potential final opponents.
Arsenal & Champions League: The Journey so far
The north London side were able to relax for a while having finished in the top eight. The new league phase has seen some great fixtures in the recent times. In the meantime, many top European clubs had to go through play-offs to make into the last 16. Big teams like reigning champions Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City had to play the play-offs.
Pep Guardiola’s City have been knocked out by Real in the two-legged play-off phase. That means Arsenal are one of the three Premier League sides flying the England’s top-flight flag in Europe. They won six out of their eight matches in the league phase. The only loss came in hands of Inter Milan. While they won against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting Lisbon. They will be trying to get through the round of sixteen first. Mikel Arteta’s side reached the last eight stage last campaign. He led them in their first Champions League campaign for years. They finished the group on top. But went down against FC Porto in the round of sixteen.
Arteta on Arsenal’s Champions League title charge
At the start of the season, the Spaniard made it clear that they will be looking to lift that trophy in Munich. He said: “I’m extremely motivated.
“It’s a competition that we love playing, every player loves playing and here we are again. Success, I think, at this level is actually to win it. But we made some bigger steps [last season] I think. We learn a lot from the experience.”
Mikel Arteta spoke to the media on Friday. Just hours before that they were drawn against PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Arteta said: “We’ve played against them, they are a really good team. We have experienced it and it will be really difficult.
“We know what we are facing. When you are at this stage every team is really good. When the time comes we will be ready for it.”
Author’s Opinion
The UEFA Champions League is one of the biggest and most prestigious competitions in the world of football. Winning the ultimate price is not at all easy. The best of the best meet in this competition.
Arsenal’s route to the final isn’t going to be easy but eventful.
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