Arsenal’s route to Champions League triumph has become clearer after their victory over Bayer Leverkusen. Before full-time at the Emirates Stadium, Sporting defeated Bodo/Glimt to secure their spot against either the Gunners or Leverkusen. Following a 1-1 draw in Germany last week, Arsenal beat Leverkusen 2-0 courtesy of Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice’s stunning strikes.
And thanks to Bodo/Glimt’s collapse, the Premier League leaders now know they will face Sporting – Viktor Gyokeres’ former team – next up. The Portuguese side completed a magnificent comeback in Lisbon on Tuesday evening. They were down 3-0 from the first leg in Norway, but strikes from Goncalo Inacio, Pedro Goncalves and Luis Suarez levelled the tie, forcing extra-time at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.
Maxi Araujo then completed the remarkable turnaround to make it 4-3 on aggregate, before they netted a fifth right at the death through Rafael Nel to secure their spot in the quarter-finals.
Should Arsenal get past Sporting in the last eight, they would encounter one of Barcelona, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur or Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
Barca are currently tied 1-1 from the first leg at St James’ Park. The second leg in Catalonia is scheduled for Wednesday with Barca the favourites to progress on home turf (5.45pm GMT).
Tottenham, on the other hand, trail Atletico 5-2 from the first leg in Madrid. The second leg of that fixture will also be played on Wednesday (8pm GMT) and a Spurs comeback appears highly unlikely given their form in 2026.
The Gunners, by contrast, will be optimistic about a prolonged European campaign this season, having been placed in the more favourable half of the draw – steering clear of holders Paris Saint-Germain, European powerhouses Real Madrid and German champions Bayern Munich.
PSG, who eliminated Arsenal from last year’s competition at the semi-final stage, held a 5-2 advantage from the first leg in Paris and won the return tie 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. They are poised to face either Liverpool or Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The Reds are trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Turkey.
The victor of that quarter-final would meet either Real Madrid, who beat Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate on Tuesday night, or Bayern who boast a dominant 6-1 advantage over Atalanta.
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