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EspañolArsenal's hopes of ending a 20-year wait to return to the UEFA Champions League Final got a boost Friday with a draw many will perceive to be as kind as possible.
MORE — Champions League fixtures | Europa League draw
The Gunners will meet Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 and a win would show them the victor of Bodo/Glimt or Sporting Lisbon.
It'll likely get dicey by the semifinal round, where Barca, Newcastle, Atletico Madrid, or Spurs would await, but the argument can be made that that quartet is less daunting than the other half of the bracket, where PSG, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Man City, and Bayern Munich make up 3/4 of the field.
Club coefficients of remaining Champions League teams
UEFA's club coefficients detail the recent histories of teams in European competitions, which does knock teams that have not religiously reached Europe. That explains the placing of Newcastle in 74th and why Bodo/Glimt is as high as 34th after a semifinal run to face Spurs in the Europa League last season.
1. Real Madrid
2. Bayern Munich
4. Liverpool
5. Manchester City
6. Paris Saint-Germain
7. Barcelona
8. Arsenal
9. Bayer Leverkusen
11. Chelsea
12. Atletico Madrid
15. Atalanta
17. Tottenham Hotspur
18. Sporting Lisbon
34. Bodo/Glimt
47. Galatasaray
74. Newcastle United
(via UEFA.com)
Winners and losers of UEFA Champions League draw
So, yes, let's renew our thoughts on Arsenal — any Gunners fan or contrarian attempting to tell you they didn't get the best draw is a grasping enthusiast in a room full of straws. Bayer Leverkusen are sixth in the Bundesliga, 21 points off Bayern, while Bodo/Glimt are in their first proper UCL knockout round tie and Lisbon sit second in Portugal. Winner, winner, Hungarian dinner? Yes, by extension you could call any of those three teams a winner as well and both Leverkusen and Lisbon will be dreaming of a semifinal spot.
It's difficult not to point at all eight teams in the top-half of the bracket as losers due to the strength of the group (PSG, Chelsea, Gala, Liverpool, Real, Man City, Atalanta, and Bayern) but there are silver lining teams in that bunch. Liverpool will be heavily-favored to beat Galatasaray and Bayern Munich the same versus Atalanta. Those won't be cakewalks but winning would mean getting teams (Real or City for Bayern and PSG or Chelsea for Liverpool) that faced a much more challenging Round of 16.
Barcelona will be happy with their draw of Newcastle and Atletico Madrid should be pleased with Tottenham Hotspur, though both sides will know that a familiar, strong opponent could await in the quarterfinal as Barca beat Atleti 3-1 in their first La Liga meeting but fell 4-0 at the Estadio Metropolitano earlier this month in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal. They are set to meet March 3 in the second leg and April 5 in the league, the latter coming days before a possible first leg of the quarterfinals.
UEFA Champions League predictions: Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, final
Round of 16
PSG 5-3 Chelsea
Galatasaray 2-6 Liverpool
Real Madrid 3-5 Manchester City
Atalanta 2-4 Bayern Munich
Newcastle United 3-6 Barcelona
Atletico Madrid 3-2 Spurs
Bodo/Glimt 3-4 Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen 3-4 Arsenal
Quarterfinals
PSG 5-3 Liverpool
Man City 3-4 Bayern Munich
Barcelona 7-6 Atletico Madrid
Sporting Lisbon 2-5 Arsenal
Semifnals
PSG 4-6 Bayern Munich
Barcelona 4-3 Arsenal
Final
Bayern Munich 2-1 aet Barceloan