We have been drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Champions League.
We will face the German side in the first leg at their BayArena home on either Tuesday, March 10 or Wednesday, March 11, before the return fixture in north London a week later, on either Tuesday, March 17 or Wednesday, March 18. Fixture confirmation will be announced in due course.
Bayer are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, but reached this stage in the competition by finishing 16th in the league phase before winning 2-0 at Olympiacos in the play-off round first leg, thanks to a Patrik Schick brace, while a 0-0 draw on Tuesday was enough to punch their last 16 ticket.
We last faced Leverkusen in competitive action back in the 2001/02 Champions League second group stage, when a last-minute concession saw us draw 1-1 at the BayArena, however we ran out 4-1 victors at Highbury with icons Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieria and Dennis Bergkamp all scoring.
As well as the draw for the last 16, we now also know our potential path to the final as the rest of the competition’s bracket was drawn.
Should we get past Leverkusen, we’ll play either Sporting Lisbon or Bodo/Glimt in the quarter-finals in April, while one of Newcastle United, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Tottenham Hotspur would then lie in wait should we replicate last season’s efforts and make it all the way to the semi-finals.
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