Arsenal host Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates in the Champions League Round of 16. The winner advances to the quarterfinal and the loser’s European campaign is over. The Gunners going out today would be a massive disappointment. The expectation is at least another semifinal berth, if not a trip to the final. No pressure.
The good news is that Arsenal are at home. They earned that right by finishing first in the League Phase table. And although anything can happen — that’s part of the beauty and charm
of knockout football — Arsenal should be able to take care of business against Leverkusen in North London. If they can’t, they don’t deserve to win the CL (and they won’t because they’ll have been eliminated).
Leverkusen played Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the BayArena last week and drew Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich 1-1 over the weekend (helped by Bayern picking up two red cards). They’ve put together two solid performances in a row. Beyond that, they’re not exactly lighting things up. They’re winless in 6 matches (5 draws, 1 loss).
On the other hand, they’ve given up more than one goal just once in their last 14 matches. They frustrated the Arsenal attack and carried a 1-0 lead deep into the first leg before Noni Madueke won a penalty for Kai Havertz to convert to grab a draw.
The first leg was a weird match, honestly. Arsenal were unlucky not to take an early lead through Gabriel Martinelli, who rattled the crossbar off a sweeping counterattack. After that scare, Leverkusen tightened up significantly and played much more conservatively. They realized that committing the numbers forward that they were would end in disaster and a potential blowout. That more structured approach did what it was intended to do — frustrate the Arsenal attacker.
Leverkusen didn’t offer much going forward. Their goal came from a corner kick won by a second half kickoff routine that irked Mikel Arteta. The Arsenal manager said he’d warned his side not to get caught out and they got caught out anyway. Striker Christian Kofane caused some problems but nothing that the Arsenal defense weren’t able to mop up well enough. The 19-year old will likely find it tougher sledding facing the Gunners stout backline for a second time — he doesn’t have the element of surprise anymore.
Arsenal will be without Jurrien Timber, who picked up a minor issue against Everton over the weekend. Martin Ødegaard is “working hard” to be available for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final but today’s match is too soon. It might not be the worst thing in the world for the Arsenal skipper to spend the international break focused on recovery. Mikel Merino is likely out for the season. Ben White and Leandro Trossard return to the starting lineup.
Leverkusen will be buoyed by the return of veteran attacker Patrik Schik, who is available to come off the bench. The visitors will be without Mark Flekken, Arthur, Lucas Vazquesz, Loic Bade, and Eliesse Ben Seghir.
Arsenal – Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Eze, Trossard, Gyokeres
Leverkusen – Blaswich, Quansah, Andrich, Terrier, Tapsoba, Poku, Grimaldo, Garcia, Palacios, Maza, Kofane
WHO: Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen
WHAT: Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg
WHERE: The Emirates Stadium, London
WHEN: Tuesday, March 17th, 1:00 pm PT | 4:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm GMT
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming on Paramount+
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