Arsenal have found out their potential opponents for the round of 16 stage of the Champions League.
The Gunners had a fantastic league phase in the European competition. They finished top of the standings with a perfect tally of 24 points from eight matches.
As a result, the north London giants booked a direct spot in the last 16 of the Champions League, thereby avoiding a potential banana skin in the knockout round playoff.
Earlier last month, it was known that Arsenal could face one of Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta, Olympiacos or Borussia Dortmund during the last 16 phase of the competition.
Those teams have been reduced to two after tonight’s result. Leverkusen booked their spot in the last 16 draw after a 2-0 aggregate victory over Olympiacos across two legs.
Dortmund seemed in pole position to do so too, having had a 2-0 advantage from the first leg.
However, they squandered their lead against Atalanta on the road today. The Bergamo outfit raced into a comfortable 3-0 scoreline before Dortmund got a goal of their own.
Deep into stoppage time, Atalanta scored a fourth from the penalty spot to progress (4-3 agg).
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Arsenal will now face either Leverkusen or Atalanta in the round of 16 stage.
The draw will be held in Switzerland on Friday at 11am BST. Based on domestic form, the Gunners’ faithful may prefer Leverkusen over Atalanta, who have had a fine run of results.
The Bergamo outfit were languishing in the bottom end of the Serie A standings at the start of the season, but they are now just five points adrift of fourth-placed Roma.
Atalanta are a tough opposition to beat on their home turf. They shared the spoils against Arsenal last season. David Raya made a splendid double save from the penalty spot.
Arsenal will be away for the first leg of the round of 16 stage. The same will be the case for the forthcoming knockout rounds if the Gunners stay in the competition.