Arsenal lock horns with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Round of 16 on Wednesday night but ahead of things getting underway, former striker Thierry Henry has made a bold claim about Mikel Arteta’s men and their chances of winning the lot.
The league phase seemed pretty routine for the side also at the top of the Premier League: they won all eight of their matches, dismantling Atletico Madrid in a 4-0 rout and overseeing a 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the process.
Are they among the favourites? Perhaps but it’s a tall order to hustle and bustle in the latter stages of the competition – especially with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City still in the mix.
Henry, speaking after Bayern beat Atalanta without a flinch and Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United, has made a huge claim about the Gunners, who are among the biggest clubs in world football to never get their hands on the Champions League.
Arsenal team news vs Leverkusen
Arsenal have the chance to put one foot forward in their pursuit of Champions League gold on Wednesday night as they face Kai Havertz’s former side, Leverkusen.
No means an easy fixture, Arteta will have to fare without club captain Martin Odegaard but will be boosted by the return of William Saliba at the heart of his back line.
Shots of Arsenal players heading to Germany showed that Ben White (pictured next to Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres) is on the cusp of a return to action after a sustained period on the sidelines with an injury.
Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard were both injured and substituted off in Arsenal’s FA Cup win over Mansfield Town recently but Arteta has claimed that both players are ‘a possibility’.
Thierry makes Champions League prediction regarding Arsenal
Following Bayern’s 6-1 win over Atalanta, Henry – who pulled on an Arsenal strip on 377 occasions – claimed that his former side and Vincent Kompany’s men are closer to be winners of Europe’s most prestigious competition than Barcelona are.
Hansi Flick’s side, despite boasting the likes of Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, just about managed to pick out a draw against Newcastle United on Tuesday with Yamal’s 96th-minute penalty giving the Spanish side a slither of hope.
Following Tuesday’s night of action, Henry made a bold statement on CBS Sports. “I think that Bayern is way more balanced than Barcelona in terms of how they attack, how they shift places,” he said, per Football365.
“You will see, whoever it is, it can be the winger inside, the striker like we saw with Nicolas Jackson on the right, they know what they need to do, they press well, they’re very difficult to beat at times.”
Read More: Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal: TV channel, kick-off time & how to watch
He didn’t have the same praise for Barcelona, who he ridiculed for their lack of consistency. “They need to find that consistency and that balance if they want to win and be considered one of the hot favourites to win it – I still think they are,” before referencing the Gunners.
“But that balance sometimes that they don’t have make me turn a tiny bit more to Bayern and Arsenal,” Henry concluded before Jamie Carragher agreed by saying, “I think Bayern or Arsenal would beat Barcelona.”
Can Arsenal finally win the Champions League?
In conversations about who is the biggest team in London, the fact that Arsenal have no Champions Leagues to boot is a stick used to beat them with. But can they finally get it over the line?
The closest they’ve come with a final against Ronaldinho-led Barcelona in 2006, a match they lost 2-1 and last season’s exit was at the hands of eventual winners PSG.
Arteta’s defence is one of the best in the world, no doubt, but there could be concerns over whether they have the firepower required to be crowned the champions of Europe.
As things stand, Opta’s supercomputer have the English giants as the runaway favourites to win the competition at 26.7%. Time will tell, of course, but Leverkusen will be looking to spoil the party.
