Arsenal won 2-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night. (Image: Getty)
Manchester United will be delighted that Premier League rivals Arsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. After the first leg in Germany, the Gunners drew 1-1 at BayArena after Kai Havertz converted a penalty in the 89th minute. Arsenal therefore knew they needed a win at all costs at the Emirates Stadium to progress to the next round.
Ebelesi Eze broke the Bundesliga club’s resistance with a right-footed shot into the top corner in the 36th minute, and Declan Rice’s accurate shot in the second half sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal advanced and will now face Sporting in the quarter-finals. Sporting went from 3-0 down in the first leg to winning the second leg 5-0. And that’s good news for United. Even if they selfishly didn’t want to see the North Londoner win the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
With this result, it is almost certain that the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League for the fifth time this season. Each season, UEFA awards one additional spot (the European Performance Spot) to two countries whose clubs outperform their rivals overall in European competitions.
England is ahead of Spain in second place and Germany in third place in the coefficient rankings. The Premier League went into the knockout stages with nine clubs competing across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, at least three more than any other country.
However, there were concerns for United after the first leg, in which six Premier League clubs failed to win in the Champions League. Arsenal drew with Leverkusen and Newcastle drew 1-1 with Barcelona at St James’ Park. Liverpool suffered a narrow loss to Galatasaray, while Tottenham and Chelsea lost to Atletico Madrid and PSG respectively. Manchester City also lost to Real Madrid by three goals.
Chelsea (8-2 on aggregate vs. PSV) and City (5-1 on aggregate vs. Real) were both sent off on Tuesday night as Arsenal progressed to the last eight. And while the Gunners could be the only Premier League representatives at the next stage, the fact they defeated the German club is important for Man United.
Germany are third in the rankings, but Leverkusen’s departure makes it virtually impossible for them to overtake England. Bayern Munich is the only Bundesliga team remaining in the competition, but none of the three German teams participating in the Europa League are leading in the first leg.
And after finishing fifth in the Premier League this season and also qualifying for the Champions League thanks to Arsenal, United will be even more confident of returning to Europe’s top competition. The Red Devils are five points behind fifth-placed Liverpool and six points behind sixth-placed Chelsea.
Manchester United are doing well in the Premier League (Image: Getty)
United still have much better form than their rivals in 2026, with both teams still having games left until the end of the season. Since Michael Carrick took over as interim manager, the team has won seven, drawn one and lost one.
After 21 games of the season, United are seventh in the table, 11 points behind Aston Villa. They beat the Villains 3-1 at the weekend and are now three points ahead of Unai Emery’s side. United’s next game is on Friday night against 10th-placed Bournemouth, who have drawn each of their last four games.
Arsenal’s victory is also good news for Liverpool. Liverpool has failed to beat Wolves and Tottenham, who are struggling in their last two games, and is expected to have a tough scrap with Villa and Chelsea for the final two spots in the Champions League.
The Reds could be eliminated from this year’s competition tomorrow night and need a two-goal win over Galatasaray at Anfield to qualify. They then travel to 12th placed Brighton at lunchtime on Saturday.
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