Champions League: Arsenal Get Lucky

In what could've been a very difficult draw for Arsenal, the club from North London got a rather favourable draw against Italian side AS Roma for the second knockout round. The Gunners could have well met the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Juventus, in what could have posed a difficult challenge for an inconsistent side.

But by getting a rather favourable draw, Arsenal now have a great chance of progressing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. 

Not only do Roma play a style of football which would suit Arsenal, the Italian club have not been in great form this season. Their drubbing of Chelsea in the group stages of the competition was one of the rare successes of the season and the club now lie in 10th position in the Serie A.

Arsenal have also been inconsistent, but the Gunners will be a very happy lot having avoided a trip to Camp Nou. Playing Barcelona at such an early stage would have been a difficult task, even though the neutrals might have had a considerable amount of joy from the thought of such a tie.

Roma, though, play at a much slower tempo and this will certainly suit Arsenal. They rely heavily on the creativity of Francesco Totti and Daniele de Rossi. Other dangerous players in their team include the likes of Alberto Aquilani, who coincidentally, was linked to the Gunners in the summer. 

Roma have problems predominantly at the back—with Phillipe Mexes leading the line. The Giallorossi have conceded 20 goals from 15 games this season, which is proof of their ineptitude at the back.

That said, they have improved considerably over the past few weeks, with wins over Chievo and Cagliari boosting their position in the standings.

Arsenal have been consistently inconsistent this season and this will no doubt be a tricky tie, but by avoiding Barcelona, the Gunners will be expected to beat the team which infamously lost 7-1 to Manchester United a couple of seasons ago. 

All said and done, this is the Champions League. This is a competition where teams which don't turn up, no matter what their reputation or status, could see themselves get knocked out. Both these teams will be well aware of such eventualities and this will be a very interesting couple of games without a doubt.

Manchester United, meanwhile have got a difficult draw against the Special One's Inter Milan. That promises to be a mouth-watering contest between two very experienced managers.

The games involving the English teams, along with the games between Lyon and Barcelona, might be the games to look out for as far as this round is concerned.

There are no guaranteed winners for certain. This is the Champions League and all the teams will have to be at their best to get the required result.

That said, Arsenal might well be one of the happier English clubs as they have drawn a team that has mirrored their inconsistency in Serie A.