Thierry Henry believes that Arsenal should hope to avoid facing Manchester City and Real Madrid in the next round of the Champions League if they wish to advance further in the competition.
Following their hard-fought victory against FC Porto in the round of 16, Arsenal will be eager to secure a favourable draw in the quarterfinals.
While every club that has qualified for the quarterfinals deserves respect and has the potential to progress, Henry views Manchester City and Real Madrid as formidable opponents who are particularly likely to reach the semifinals.
He said, as quoted by The Sun:
“You can never disrespect anyone in Europe.
“There are two teams there who can be cocky – it’s Real Madrid and Man City, that’s about it. The others, you just take who you can play.
“Man City are the team to beat still, for me. I know Pep, it’s not how he’s going to take it, I was just putting it out there.
“Me as a player, I’ve been in too many situations to know that sometimes the so-called team who was easy to play against is not the case, you arrive and people think, ‘you’re going to win it easy’, no, that’s not really the case.
“So the champions can talk – Man City – and then Real Madrid, we already know they have 14 [Champions League trophies], other than that, let’s see what’s going to happen.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
At this stage of the competition, we must be prepared to meet any club and it is not just Madrid and Manchester City who are in top shape.
If we underestimate other opponents, they can send us packing from the tournament.
But if we are drawn against Madrid or City, even the most positive Arsenal supporter will feel we have a daunting task on our hands.
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