🕟 Kick Off: 17:45 GMT

🏟️ Venue: BayArena

📺 UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Halil Umut Meler 🇹🇷

📹 VAR: Rob Dieperink 🇳🇱

🔴 Arsenal Team News:

• Leandro Trossard (Knock): Spotted in training following his substitution against Mansfield.
• Riccardo Calafiori (Hamstring): Also spotted in training following his substitution at the weekend.
• William Saliba (Ankle): Spotted in training following his absence from the Mansfiedl game.
• Martin Ødegaard (Knee): Not seen in training today, unlikely to be fit.
• Ben White (Muscle): Ruled out; has not traveled with the squad.
• Mikel Merino (Foot): Ruled out long-term following surgery.

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧

🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen Team News:

• Mark Flekken (Knee): Recovering from a knee injury. Spotted in training today.
• Patrik Schick (Muscle): Ruled out due to ongoing muscular problems.
• Nathan Tella (Foot): Spotted in training today following a foot injury.
• Loïc Badé (Hamstring): Unavailable for the first leg.
• Lucas Vázquez & Eliesse Ben Seghir: Both are ruled out with calf and ankle injuries respectively.

⚽ Bayer Leverkusen Form: 🟧🟩🟧🟧🟥

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Arsenal 4–1 Bayer Leverkusen (Feb 27, 2002, Champions League)
• Bayer Leverkusen 1–1 Arsenal (Feb 19, 2002, Champions League)

📖 Match Facts:

• This will be Kai Havertz’s first time returning to the BayArena since leaving for Chelsea in 2020. He made 150 appearances for Leverkusen, scoring 46 goals and making 31 assists. He spent 10 years at the club in total.
• A win for Arsenal will be their 9th consecutive victory in the competition. The record stands at 15 set by Bayern Munich.
• Despite being on loan from Leverkusen, Hincapie is allowed to play against his parent club.

📸 Previously in this fixture…

The last time we faced Bayer Leverkusen was in the 01/02 iteration of the Champions League. The format was pretty different back then, as we faced them in the second group stage. Our group consisted of Leverkusen, Deportivo de La Coruña, and Juventus. We were knocked out after finishing 3rd in the group.

The 4-1 result at Highbury saw goals from Pires, Henry, Vieira, and Bergkamp. You couldn’t have asked for more as a fan at that game, what a star studded scoresheet. Sebescen scored the only goal for Leverkusen.

Leverkusen would go on to finish as runners up in the competition, missing out to Real Madrid in a 1-2 loss in the final, with a winning goal from Zidane.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

Our break from the Premier League continues on Wendesday with a visit to Leverkusen for the first leg of our Quarter Final UCL match against Bayer Leverkusen. This is the first game of our UCL knockout run this season, with many seeing our path to a potential final as being very kind.

Leverkusen haven’t made it past the Round of 16 since 01/02, which was the last time we played them in the competition. I was going to comment on their pedigree in the competition, but we as a club aren’t really ones to talk. Yes, our recent performances in the competition have seen us improve, but we still have a lot to prove in this competition. This run to the final gives us just that opportunity, and this match is the first step in achieving something great.

After resting several key players against Mansfield, notably Rice, Raya, Zubimendi, Gyokeres, and Gabriel, our spine should be raring to go for this game. Rice and Zubimendi were looking especially knackered as of late, so hopefully a rest will revitalise the pair of them. The lack of Odegaard means we will probably continue to see Eze used in attacking midfield, unless Arteta calls upon ex-Leverkusen man Kai Havertz to play there. We saw glimpes of a partnership forming between Gyokeres and Havertz before he got injured again, so maybe Arteta will be looking for a continuation of this trend.

The murmerings from German media do not paint a pretty picture for Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand. Sky Germany report that his future at the club is up in the air following a 3-3 draw last week, and with their next fixtures being us, Bayern, and us again, he will be wanting to get some results if only to silence critics.