London, Feb 21 (IANS) English giants Arsenal have been drawn against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the last-16 of the Champions League. Head coach Mikel Arteta hailed their opponents but stated his side ‘will be ready’ for the Dutch outfit when the time comes.
The draw for the remainder of the UEFA Champions League took place on Friday and the outcome for the Gunners is a two-legged tie against the Dutch club next month. The first leg will take place at the Philips Stadion on March 4-5, with the decider to be played at Emirates Stadium the following week on March 11-12.
“We’ve played against them, they are a really good team. We have experienced it and it will be really difficult. We know what we are facing. When you are at this stage every team is really, really good. When the time comes we will be ready for it,” said Arteta in a press conference.
Should Arsenal advance past PSV to get to the quarterfinals, the North London side will face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals. Potential semifinal opponents could be any of Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Club Brugge, or Aston Villa who were all drawn on their side of the bracket.
PSV are currently second in the Eredivisie, two points behind leaders Ajax. They made it to the last 16 by finishing 14th in the Champions League table with four wins and two draws from their eight matches. That set up a play-off round clash with Juventus, and they overcame a 2-1 first-leg loss by winning 3-1 after extra time at home in the second leg.
Arsenal host West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday as they chase league leaders Liverpool, who have an eight-point lead over the Gunners but have played one game more.
As Liverpool head into their game against Manchester City on Sunday, the Gunners boss stated that given the long season that still awaits the Gunners, every game is important and they ‘will have to do our job’ irrespective of Liverpool’s result.
“We have to do our job. It’s going to be a tough one tomorrow. If we do that we will be looking at that game on Sunday [between Liverpool and Manchester City]. There are 13 games to go, there is a lot to play. We need to be there. We are very experienced in the Premier League and know how difficult every opponent is.” he added.
–IANS
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