Juventus’ defeat to Empoli last night (Monday) has made it incredibly likely that Arsenal will indeed be in pot two of the UEFA Champions League for next season. This is a significant boost for the club who could have been in the third-tier list of teams and facing an incredibly difficult group stage.
Should they indeed enter the second-tier grouping, they would avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto. Instead, they will face off against teams from the third pot which include Lazio, Red Bull Salzburg and Crvena Zvezda.
The Europa League had given both Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta the chance to rotate the Arsenal side during their tenure, blood youngsters and keep the players on the fringes ready for senior action should they be called upon.
