Skip to main content

Arsenal book berth in knockouts

A 3-1 victory over a spirited Partizan Belgrade side on Wednesday confirmed Arsenal's place in the last 16 for an 11th successive season under the Frenchman, but only as runners-up in Group H to Shakhtar Donetsk.

GEAR:Up to £10 off Champions League kits with Kitbag. Free delivery on orders over £50

The formula for this month's draw means Arsenal will face Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Schalke when the competition resumes in February.

"All I know is we have a 50 percent chance to travel to Spain and a 50 percent chance to travel to Germany," a relieved Wenger told reporters after watching his side labour to beat the Serbian champions who finished bottom with no points.

"Let's be realistic Barcelona are the super favourites in the competition at the moment, but we will take what we get and if it's Barcelona it's Barcelona. We played them last year.

"Overall we are in a good position. We are in a strong position in the Premier League, we are in the semi-final of the League Cup and we've qualified in the Champions League.

"We have some very exciting challenges in front of us but we have room for improvement and I'm confident we will improve," added Wenger, whose team were joint top scorers in the group phase with North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

It made for an anxious 20 minutes before substitute Theo Walcott showed a poacher's eye to control a high ball in an instant and rifle a volley past Vladimir Stojkovic in the Partizan goal.

Samir Nasri wrapped up victory four minutes later although there was still time for right back Bacary Sagna to further complicate Arsenal's Champions League future when he was shown a red card for a trip on Aleksandar Lazevski late on.

"You can't try to compare tonight's

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.