Arsenal’s quadruple quest continues as they take on Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
We’ve already seen a very entertaining set of matches as Bayern Munich smashed Atalanta, Atletico Madrid humiliated Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United held Barcelona to a hard-fought draw.
The Champions League’s second round-of-16 matchday promises more goals and excitement.
Arsenal’s trip to Leverkusen catches the eye as an opportunity for the hosts to send shockwaves across Europe.
For Arsenal, they’ll be hoping it’s business as usual.
Here are five major talking points ahead of the match.
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Familiar faces return to BayArena
There are two familiar faces for the Leverkusen faithful to welcome to the BayArena.
Piero Hincapie will be facing off against his parent club; he joined the Gunners on loan from Leverkusen in the summer, with an option to buy at the end of the season.
He was an adored member of the 2024/25 Leverkusen squad that went the entire Bundesliga campaign unbeaten.
Hincapie joined a club with a similar history, with Arsenal of course having gone invincible themselves in the 2003/04 Premier League season.
The Ecuadorian defender had an up-and-down start to his Gunners career, but recent performances have shown his quality.
Kai Havertz also made a name for himself at Die Werkself before joining Chelsea in a huge £62 million move.
He scored 46 goals and provided 31 assists across 150 matches for Leverkusen, having come through the club’s academy since the age of 11.
After returning from injury, Havertz has demonstrated his importance to Arsenal during a crucial end-of-season run-in.
His combination play with Viktor Gyokeres has been particularly impressive and provides Mikel Arteta with a selection headache.
An unfamiliar match-up awaits
It may come as a shock, but this will be only the third meeting between these two big clubs.
The first two matches were in the 2001/02 Champions League group stage.
The Gunners dominated, securing a 4-1 home win alongside a 1-1 draw away.
With previous Arsenal goals coming from Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira, this will of course be a much different contest.
Luckily for Leverkusen, those players cannot haunt them again, but there is plenty of quality for Arteta to rely upon.
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Can Leverkusen repeat City performance?
Earlier in the season, Leverkusen proved their status as a force to be reckoned with in Europe as they visited the Etihad Stadium and took all three points back to Germany.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side stunned Ped Guardiola with a 2-0 victory in Manchester.
Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrick Schick were against the run of play but left the travelling fans in jubilation.
Goalkeeper Mark Flekken had a night to remember, making nine saves and preventing 2.19 goals across the 90 minutes.
Leverkusen also held Newcastle United to a 2-2 draw, showing they can hold their own against Premier League opposition.
Arsenal are top of the league, though, so the German side will need to be on their A-game to secure a result.
Arsenal’s perfect cup form
The Gunners have reached new heights this season and are currently on for a quadruple.
Life in the Premier League has been far from plain sailing, but Arsenal are currently top of the table, seven points clear of Manchester City.
Arteta’s side have dropped points in 10 league matches so far this campaign, showing there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Outside of the Premier League, it has been a flawless season for Arsenal.
The Gunners finished top of the Champions League table, winning all eight league-phase matches and conceding just four goals in the process.
They have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals and are also set to face title rivals Man City in the Carabao Cup final.
Arteta will be hoping his side can continue this perfect form into the latter stages of the Champions League.
Could Max Dowman feature?
In Arsenal’s most recent cup match, they were put to the test by League One side Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.
The Gunners came away from Field Mill 2-1 victors, but it was far from a smooth game of football.
Mansfield had their chances to equalise and Arsenal were sloppy, particularly the senior players.
The likes of Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard, the players Arteta would rely on for experience and leadership, looked lost on the pitch.
Instead, it was a 16-year-old who stepped up and put in a brilliant performance.
Max Dowman, who has recently returned from injury, was Arsenal’s best player on the pitch by a country mile.
Dowman played two key passes, made four progressive carries, drew three fouls and had five shots at goal.
Although it is extremely unlikely that he will start against Leverkusen, he could provide a spark for Arsenal off the bench in the latter stages of the match.
Liberty Nicholson-Hulse 
SportJustSport writers 
Aidan Leo