Every confirmed team in Champions League round of 16 and the rules that could affect Arsenal

Only six spots remain in this season's UEFA Champions League round of 16 stage and Arsenal are one of 14 sides who have a chance of sealing qualification

29 Nov 2023, 17:00 by Tashan Deniran-Alleyne · football.london

Round two of matchday five of this season's UEFA Champions League group phase is upon us with Arsenal hopeful of taking one of the remaining six spots up for grabs in the round of 16 stage.

After recording impressive wins over Sevilla home and away, the Gunners have taken full control of Group B and go into tonight's game against RC Lens knowing another victory will be enough to guarantee a top-two finish which means they'll still have a place at Europe's top table after Christmas.

As things currently stand, the worst-case scenario for Arsenal is finishing third and thus transferring over to the Europa League. The only way this can happen is if they lose both of their remaining games in addition to PSV Eindhoven AND Lens picking up maximum points.

Having said that, the north London outfit require a single point to be assured of qualification and the incentive for Mikel Arteta's side to advance as group winners is what many observers consider a favourable draw when they discover their fate at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday 18 December.

So as this season's UEFA Champions League group phase approaches the end, football.london has taken a closer look at how things are shaping up for Arsenal and others - such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Internazionale - ahead of today's eight fixtures.

Who has qualified?

Tuesday night's games saw Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona win their respective matches to confirm a place in the round of 16 alongside the already qualified Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Internazionale, Manchester City and RB Leipzig.

Who else can qualify?

As Union Berlin, Red Bull Salzburg, Benfica, Feyenoord, Celtic, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade and Royal Antwerp have all been eliminated already, it means 14 sides are left to battle it out for the precious six available spots in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase.

Of course, this includes Arsenal as well as PSV Eindhoven, RC Lens, Sevilla, Copenhagen, Galatasaray, Manchester United, Napoli, Braga, Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, AC Milan, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Who could Arsenal face?

If Arsenal qualify as group winners then they will be seeded for the round of 16 draw meaning they can only face an unseeded runner-up. And it works vice-versa were they to confirm their progression behind either PSV Eindhoven or RC Lens.

As things stand, the Gunners are on course to avoid Bayern Munich who are currently one of only two confirmed group winners but as per UEFA a round of 16 clash against Manchester City cannot happen in any circumstances as no side can face another team from the same national association.

Furthermore, as clubs cannot face opponents they met during the group stage, Arsenal - if they qualify - will avoid the other side progressing from Group B whilst RB Leipzig - the only one confirmed as group runners-up as of writing, are therefore a potential opponent for Mikel Arteta's side.

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