Arsenalist

As anyone who hasn’t been living under a stone for the past week will know, this morning is the Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw as the path back to Rome becomes clear for Arsenal. Like every cup draw though there are teams that you would like to avoid and those who if you are paired with you fancy your chances of going through against.
 
Well, out of the seven sides Arsenal can draw, surely Porto are the ones Arsene Wenger will hope to be paired with. The Portuguese side are poor away from home, as they demonstrated when they were beaten 4-0 by the Gunners at the Emirates in the group stages this season. Despite losing the return leg with what was an alternate side, going back to the Estadio do Dragao certainly won’t be as intimidating as a trip to the Nou Camp.
 
If you didn’t know, Arsenal can draw another English side in the quarter-finals and despite having a good record against Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool this season, it would be for the best to avoid any one of that trio at all costs.  It seems that if we want to win the Champions League this season we are going to have to face another Premier League side but hopefully that won’t be until the final.
 
As for the other sides Arsenal could draw, Barcelona are the ones to be most afraid of. The Spanish side have been in blistering form this year and despite being less than solid at the back, I don’t think any defence in the world could stop the threesome of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, especially with Andres Iniesta and Xavi behind them.
 
So that leaves us with Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Porto. German side Munich may not be the side they once were but they still have some quality players in amongst their ranks as they demonstrated with a record 12-1 aggregate victory over Sporting Lisbon in the last round.
 
I would fancy Arsenal to go through against Bayern Munich but it would be nice to avoid them on Friday, as it would be to keep clear of Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine of Spanish football may have been fortunate to come through the last round but as Manchester United have already found out this season, they are a tough nut to crack. I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of the nerve racking semi-final we had with Villarreal either, especially without Jens Lehmann to save us this time.
 
So that brings us around to Porto again and I hope you will be joining me in crossing your fingers and praying that when they crack open those balls Arsenal’s name is alongside Porto’s.