Back in May when Mikel Arteta was nursing the pain of mishandling another title race, losing out to Liverpool, and wondering if his side are forever destined to be a bridesmaid and not a bride, he would scarcely have believed the situation he and Arsenal find themselves in now.
They are top of the Premier League with 10 games to go with destiny in their hands and the UEFA Champions League draw has presented what can only be described as a golden opportunity to go ahead and land an historic league-Europe double.
This is as close to a dream scenario as Arteta could have hoped for.
By the time it came to drawing the final tie they had a 50-50 chance of ending up in the silver half of the bracket which already contained reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, Club World Cup winners Chelsea, defending Premier League champions Liverpool, Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid, familiar foe Manchester City, as well as dangerous outside bets in Galatasaray and Atalanta.
Instead they know now their route to the final is Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16, the winner of Bodo/Glimt, who are at this stage for the very first time, and Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals, before a semi-final against one of Newcastle United, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, or Tottenham. It won’t be Tottenham.
Arsenal could be lifting the Champions League at the end of the season after their dream draw
Bodo/Glimt have beaten Manchester City on their own patch and knocked out last season’s finalists Inter Milan over two legs. But excitement should be through the roof in London Colney this morning.
The snap reaction to the draw made for fascinating viewing across the continent.
There was a sense of devilment in France after PSG drew Chelsea, who they lost to in the Club World Cup final over the summer, with daily sports newspaper L’Equipe running the headline: ‘The time for revenge’.
Across in Spain, with three teams all drawn against English opposition, the reaction was markedly mixed.
Frustration in one half of Madrid as Real Madrid, for the 10th and 11th time in five seasons, take on Manchester City in a ‘scalding’ draw. On the other side of the City, Atletico Madrid supporters rejoiced at getting a visit from ‘Dr Tottenham’.
For Barcelona, who drew Newcastle United, it was little more than a shrug of the shoulders for what they see as the ‘least tough’ draw.
Ivan Rakitic pulls out Arsenal’s name on the ideal side of the draw for Mikel Arteta’s men
What this draw did do was pave a path for the Ballon d’Or contenders and in a season where Champions League and the World Cup will hold the most weight – domestic records never seem to interest voters in these cycles – the stars are aligning for the likes of Declan Rice and Harry Kane.
For Kane, he has the difficult path, needing to go through Atalanta, then either Real Madrid or Manchester City, just to book a semi-final with potentially defending champions PSG.
For Rice, this may be his greatest ever opportunity with a Premier League title, Champions League title, and a World Cup all still in his sights.
For both to meet in the final in Budapest, with all the marbles pushed to the middle of the table as they both chase their first ever Champions League title, may have seemed a somewhat remote prospect. Not any more. The stars have aligned.
NATHAN’S UCL PREDICTION
Last-16:
PSG v Chelsea – PSG win
Galatasaray v Liverpool – Liverpool win
Real Madrid v Man City – Man City win
Atalanta v Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich win
Newcastle Utd v Barcelona – Barcelona win
Atletico Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur – Atletico Madrid win
Bodo/Glimt v Sporting Lisbon – Bodo/Glimt win
Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal – Arsenal win
Quarter-finals:
PSG v Liverpool – PSG win
Man City v Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich win
Barcelona v Atletico Madrid – Atletico Madrid win
Bodo/Glimt v Arsenal – Arsenal win
Semi-finals:
PSG v Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich win
Atletico Madrid v Arsenal – Arsenal win
Final:
Bayern Munich v Arsenal – Bayern Munich win
