Wenger braced for tough last-16 draw

Arsenal and PSG have qualified from the group, while third placed Ludogorets will have another crack at the continental competition, in the second-rung Europa League.

Arsenal’s Spanish striker Lucas Perez seized his chance to shine with a hat-trick as they outclassed Basel 4-1 away to steal first place in Group A from Paris St Germain.

The Gunners will play Stoke City next and win will propel to the top of the premier league table. “At least we have done our job and let’s see what happens”, he said.

Anyway, it looks like Arsenal are likely to draw our friends in Madrid – according to MisterChip, there’s a 21% chance of that happening.

For all the bemoaning of the group stages this season, the Champions League is still a fortnightly gift to football fans.

At next Monday’s draw in Nyon, their next opponents will be drawn from an easier pot consisting of Benfica, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, and one team each from the following pairings – Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund, Juventus or Sevilla, and Porto or Copenhagen. PSG is also +2000. Goals from Jose Callejon and the Belgian Dries Mertens gave Napoli a shock two goal lead. Ozil collected Sanchez’s long ball into the area and cut it back to Iwobi, who tapped into the net from six yards with barely a Basel defender in sight. Napoli won 2-1 at Benfica to win a UCL group for the first time.

The Frenchman brought a strong squad and played the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in clash at a bitterly cold St.Jakob-Park. Alex Iwobi made it 4-0 in the 53rd.

Arda Turan, unexpectedly, scored a second-half hat-trick after Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 16th minute. However, he has held his head high and trained hard in order to be prepared for his call-up. In French Ligue 1, Montepellier nabbed a 3-0 win and PSG now sit 3rd in the premier French division.

Barcelona remains the +300 favourites to win the Champions League; Man City are fifth favourites at +1000.

The group stage has sprung some surprises this season, with Borussia Dortmund, for example, beating Real Madrid to the top spot in Group F. Robert Lewandowski scoring the victor in the 28th minute.

Bayern’s win stretched its record to 15 straight Champions League home victories and ended Atletico’s hopes of winning all six group matches.