Why Man Utd and Liverpool can rejoice Arsenal’s Champions League win after large favour
Arsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, which will prove a huge boost for their Premier League rivals, including Manchester United and Liverpool
Mikel Arteta’s side booked their Champions League quarter-final spot(Image: Rob Newell – CameraSport, CameraSport via Getty Images)
Manchester United and Liverpool will be pleased to see that Premier League rivals Arsenal advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen. The Gunners were level at 1-1 after the first leg in Germany, thanks to Kai Havertz’s 89th-minute penalty at the BayArena.
This meant Arsenal simply needed to secure a victory of any kind at the Emirates Stadium to progress to the next round. Eberechi Eze broke the Bundesliga club’s resolve in the 36th minute with a right-footed thunderbolt into the top corner before Declan Rice sealed a 3-1 aggregate win with a precise second-half strike.
Arsenal’s advancement sets up a quarter-final against Sporting, who overturned a 3-0 deficit from the first leg with a 5-0 second-leg triumph. And this is positive news for their English rivals, even though they wouldn’t want to see the north London outfit lift the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history.
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The outcome means it’s almost certain that the Premier League will be granted a fifth Champions League spot this season. Each season, UEFA awards an extra place (the European Performance Spot) to two countries whose clubs have collectively outperformed their competitors in European competitions.
England tops the coefficient rankings, ahead of Spain in second place and Germany in third. The Premier League entered the knockout stages with nine clubs competing across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League – at least three more teams than any other nation.
However, there was worry regarding that fifth spot slipping after the first legs, when none of the six Premier League clubs secured a win in the Champions League. Arsenal drew with Leverkusen whilst Newcastle managed a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at St James’ Park.
As Liverpool endured a slim defeat at Galatasaray, Tottenham and Chelsea were both thrashed by Atletico Madrid and PSG, respectively. Manchester City also suffered a three-goal loss at Real Madrid.
Chelsea (8-2 vs PSG on aggregate) and City (5-1 vs Real on aggregate) were both eliminated on Tuesday night as Arsenal advanced to the last eight. And though the Gunners could end up the sole Premier League representative in the next stage, the fact they ousted a German club is significant for United and co.
Germany are third in the rankings but it’s virtually impossible for them to surpass England due to Leverkusen’s exit. Bayern Munich are the only Bundesliga team remaining in the competition whilst none of the three German sides in the Europa League have a first-leg lead.
And with fifth in the Premier League also offering Champions League qualification this season, thanks to Arsenal, United will now be extra confident of a return to Europe’s premier competition. The Red Devils are five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool, and six ahead of Chelsea in sixth.
United still have both teams to face before the season concludes and are in far superior form to their rivals in 2026. Since interim manager Michael Carrick took the reins, they have secured seven victories, one draw and one loss.
After their 21st match of the season, United were positioned seventh and 11 points behind Aston Villa. After defeating the Villans 3-1 at the weekend, they now sit three points above Unai Emery’s side.
United’s next match sees them journey to 10th-placed Bournemouth, who have drawn all of their last four games, on Friday evening.
Arsenal’s victory is also positive news for Liverpool, who failed to overcome struggling Wolves or Tottenham in their last two matches and seem set for a tough battle with Villa and Chelsea for the final two Champions League spots.
The Reds could be eliminated from this year’s competition tomorrow night, requiring a two-goal victory over Galatasaray at Anfield to progress. Following that, they travel to Brighton, who are currently 12th, on Saturday lunchtime.
