Arsenal vs Man City: When the heated rivals could face off again in the Champions League this season
With Arsenal and Manchester City bringing back an old-school rivalry to the top level of football, we’re all wondering when the two sides will meet again.
Fresh off a dominant 5-1 victory from the Gunners, Mikel Arteta’s side gave Pep Guardiola’s men a good hiding at the Emirates Stadium, which was full of subtext, contentious moments and mocking through celebrations.
Looking ahead, both sides remain in the Champions League and there is a chance (albeit a small one) where both sides could end up facing each other on the European stage, who wouldn’t want to see that?
Here’s the breakdown of when the two rivals could face each other again this season.
The Champions League draw situation
Given Arsenal finished in the top eight, they have bypassed the knockout playoff round which will be undertaken by the team who finished between 9th-24th in the group format. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are straight through to the Round of 16 and can enjoy the lighter schedule until then.
Man City crept into the playoffs with a final-day victory over Club Brugge, but they were in danger of heading out of the competition at half-time as they trailed 1-0. After turning it around, City were then set to be drawn against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
The draw then pitted them against Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos – the reigning champions, of course – for the fourth season running. The two European giants face off in the best tie of the round with the first and second legs taking place on February 11 and February 19 respectively.
However, we still have to wait for the next stage draw which will take place on February 21 after the first round of play-offs has been completed.
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What does the bracket say?
The new format has already given us an insight into which teams are likely to feature against who. For example, because Liverpool and Barcelona finished first and second in the table, they cannot face each other until the final.
In terms of Man City and Arsenal, we can already see who their likely Round of 16 ties could be.
And the two rivals could meet as soon as the quarter-finals if the results and the draw go that way.
For Arsenal and Inter Milan, they will face one of the winners of Juventus vs. PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. AC Milan.
For City, should they come through Madrid, they could face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16.
Here's your Champions League knockout bracket.
On Feb. 21, the RO16 seeds (eg. Liverpool and Barcelona) will be drawn into either half of the bracket. That will create a RO16 fixture, and the full bracket.
Then a draw straight after for home advantage in QF and SF.#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/40ZSLWmruR
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) January 31, 2025
City and Arsenal could then potentially meet in the quarter-finals, according to the bracket.
For this to happen, City have to come through Madrid, where they will be drawn against either Atletico or Leverkusen in the R16 which they must win to set up the potential clash.
Arsenal would then have to be drawn against the winners of Juventus and PSV to ensure they are on the same side of the draw as City – the outcome of which will be decided by the play-offs and the final draw (February 21).
Otherwise, they will face the winner of Milan and Feyenoord which would mean they’d avoid a rematch against Pep Guardiola’s men until a potential final.
Ultimately, of course, this is all moot if City don’t Madrid to make it through to the next round. And given their form, that’s a very big if. Still, we’re holding our fingers crossed for the two sides to face off in what would be a classic European encounter with plenty of needle.