Saturday round-up: Champions League draw and fixture rescheduling

Morning, let’s do a fast Saturday round-up.

The apparent place to begin is the Champions League draw which passed off yesterday, and we’re going to face Bayer Leverkusen. Maybe probably the most fascinating a part of all of it is the aspect of the draw we’re on, avoiding lots of the so-called ‘huge’ groups, a minimum of till the semi-final stage. If we beat the German aspect, our quarter-final opposition can be one in every of Sporting or Bodo/Glimt, and the semi-finals ought to we get that far, would probably see us face Premier League opposition ought to Newcastle overcome Barcelona and Sp*rs see off Atletico Madrid.

I think, fairly strongly, if we do make that form of progress it’ll be a visit to Spain however you by no means know in soccer, I assume. On the opposite aspect, there are fascinating issues to contemplate within the Premier League title race as Man Metropolis face Actual Madrid (once more), and in the event that they win that one, they’ll play the winners of the Bayern Munich/Atalanta conflict. I all the time say you’re taking nothing as a right at this stage, nevertheless it’s not unreasonable to recommend the draw has been comparatively form to us and Metropolis’s video games are, on paper anyway, a bit more difficult.

And about time too, I say. What number of instances once we had been within the Champions League season after season did we draw Barcelona or Bayern within the Spherical of 16? We had Actual Madrid and PSG final season, and Bayern the season earlier than. If there’s a troublesome draw to be made, Arsenal have virtually all the time obtained the toughest possibility, so if followers of different golf equipment are moaning about the way it’s ‘straightforward’ for us, they will go stick it up their tailpipes. We completed high of the Champions League desk, there should be some reward for that. I do know that’s not the way it all the time works, however this time it has.

Talking concerning the draw at his press convention yesterday, Mikel Arteta mentioned:

We’re very excited to play the subsequent spherical. We now have earned the best to be in a powerful place, what we’ve carried out within the group stage and that’s it. Now we have to begin to analyse them and discover methods to be higher than them to try to undergo the tie.

Taking part in it with a straight bat, as we’ve come to anticipate, however behind the scenes he should be delighted with the way it panned out. I don’t essentially consider within the stars aligning for us, as a result of they will un-align fairly rapidly if we don’t deal with what we have to do ourselves, however as I mentioned, this can be a form draw and hopefully one we have a look at in a approach which focuses us to make the very most of it.

The total draw is as follows:

Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea
Galatasaray v Liverpool
Actual Madrid v Manchester Metropolis
Atalanta v Bayern Munich
Newcastle v Barcelona
Atletico Madrid v Sp*rs
Bodo/Glimt v Sporting
Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal

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As a pleasant technique to begin your Saturday, why not relive the final time we performed Bayer Leverkusen within the Champions League, again in 2002? Coincidentally, February twenty seventh 2002, the day Arseblog was born! The Arsenal workforce that day was – Seaman, Dixon, Stepanovs, Campbell, Lauren, Grimandi, Vieira, Pires, Wiltord, Bergkamp, Henry – and it options one of many nice Dennis Bergkamp targets.

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In the meantime, a consequence of the Champions League draw, which sees our second leg performed on Tuesday March seventeenth, is that our recreation in opposition to Everton which was already scheduled for Sunday March fifteenth, has now been moved to five.30 on the Saturday as a substitute. I feel everybody understands that fixtures get shuffled round due to European development and many others, however the wording of the unique rescheduling to the Sunday made no point out of the very fact it is perhaps then impacted by the Champions League, regardless of the very fact these video games are included in that announcement.

As such, a lot of followers may have already booked journey and lodging, and now discover themselves scrambling at late discover to try to change these preparations. On the very least, soccer golf equipment ought to present that stage of element of their communications, as a result of now there are going to be folks out of pocket and probably unable to attend. The extent of inconvenience varies, after all, relying on particular person circumstance, nevertheless it shouldn’t be as much as followers to learn between the strains to determine there is perhaps a possible difficulty – that’s on the membership’s communications, plain and easy, which should be higher.

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Proper, I’m gonna go away it there for now. I hope wherever you might be you will have a terrific Saturday, thanks a lot for all the beautiful messages and feedback yesterday, it means quite a bit. For those who want one thing to hearken to, we now have a preview podcast on Patreon proper now, and I’ll be again right here tomorrow to look forward correctly to the sport in opposition to Chelsea.

Till then, take care.