Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's Champions League knockouts draw

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is 'excited' about the idea of playing Champions League knockouts very soon, he said in his most recent press conference on Friday, before the game against Chelsea.

Arsenal are set to face Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 of the Champions League in March, with the first leg being played in Germany in the second week of the month. The return leg will be played at the Emirates Stadium a week later.

Should they win, they will face either Sporting or Bodo/Glimt in the quarter-finals of the competition, before potentially playing one of Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid in the semi-final.

Obviously, Arsenal have a long, long way to go before they get to that stage, and they will start against Bayer Leverkusen, who, although are not the same team they were under Xabi Alonso a season or two ago, are still dangerous, and Arsenal would need to play good football to win.

Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's Champions League knockouts draw

Arteta was asked about it in the press conference, and he only talked about his excitement for the tournament's best stages to start.

He said: "Well, we are very excited to play the next round. We have earned the right to be in a strong position, what we’ve done in the group stage and that’s it. Now we need to start to analyse them and find ways to be better than them to try and go through the tie.

"We are really excited. Going on four fronts and the way the team is consistently performing gives us a lot of hope and positive thoughts about what is coming. But we can only focus on the present, that's where we're going to put our energy and that's on Sunday."

Arsenal's first and foremost priority would definitely be the game against Chelsea on Sunday. They need to win that one before they even start thinking about the Champions League.

It is also worth noting that the first thing that Arteta says about the draw is that they have earned their right to be in a strong position. That part is bang on, because look what happened last season to the team that was in the same position they were in after the end of the league phase of the competition.

Liverpool, who finished at the top of the league phase, were knocked out in the next round because they faced eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. That is what bothered many people, and rightfully so, because a team that finishes in such a brilliant position should not be facing a team like PSG.

Arsenal's draw looks like a draw of the team that worked their socks off to get to the top, and people will say it is favourable, but that is only because it should be. It could have been much tougher for them, if there was another team in Leverkusen's position, but luckily, that wasn't the case.

It remains to be seen where Arsenal finally end up in the competition, but it will be a great tournament to watch nonetheless.