Champions League Draw Preview: Who Can Arsenal Face?

The draw for the group stages of this season’s Champions League takes place later today and Arsenal fans everywhere are eager to find out who their side will be facing. The Gunners are in Pot Two for the star-studded event in Monaco.

Saint Totteringham’s day came late last year and is now taking on more significance than just affording fans an opportunity to laugh at Tottenham. Arsenal go into Pot Two ahead of rivals Spurs in Pot Three which makes the task a lot easier.

In spite of that, Arsenal haven’t exactly had the best of luck with Champions League draws in recent seasons. The Gunners have been drawn against FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or Borussia Dortmund in each of the last seven seasons and while only the best teams get to play in this tournament, it is a little unfortunate.

Here is the list of pots in full:

Pot One:-

Real Madrid

FC Barcelona

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Bayern Munich

Juventus

Benfica

Paris Saint-Germain

Leicester City

CSKA Moscow

Pot Two:-

Arsenal

Atletico Madrid

Borussia Dortmund

Sevilla

Porto

Napoli

Bayer Leverkusen

Manchester City

Pot Three:-

Dynamo Kiev

Lyon

PSV Eindhoven

Sporting Lisbon

Club Brugge

Basle

Borussia Monchengladbach

Pot Four:-

Monaco

Besiktas

Legia Warsaw

Ludogrets

Celtic

Rostov

Copenhagen

Dinamo Zagreb

The dream draw for Arsenal would probably be Benfica, Club Brugge, and perhaps Celtic. The Gunners will fancy their chances about just about every team from Pots Three and Four with the exception of Monaco, who of course won at the Emirates in 2015. Benfica and CSKA Moscow are the weakest sides in Pot One but few teams would actively look forward to a trip to Moscow in the winter.

The nightmare – and far likelier – draw for Arsenal would consist of FC Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Monaco. We all know about FC Barcelona and the Gunners’ history with Monaco but Monchengladbach would also provide quite a test. The German side beat Europa League winners Sevilla last season as well as securing two draws against Juventus.

Arsenal will hope to avoid some of the big hitters and are undoubtedly relieved that they aren’t in Pot Three. A Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Monaco group is a possibility for Spurs so Gooners can take solace in that.

The draw takes place at 5pm UK time.