Bad news for Mikel Arteta’s side
Arsenal could be in for a Champions League nightmare following Atalanta’s Europa League success.
Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen in the final on Wednesday to win their first trophy in 61 years and by doing so, have qualified for the Champions League next season.
The Gunners will also be in Europe’s elite competition next season but due to the Italian side’s success, they will be in pot two.
However due to the new Champions League format, which will feature 36 teams as of next season, each team will have to play two sides from each respective pot.
Clubs from the same country can’t play against each other meaning that Mikel Arteta’s side will avoid Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
In a worst case scenario, Arsenal could draw Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain from Pot one and Barcelona and Juventus from Pot two if they end up as a third seed.
Each team will play eight matches in the group-stage phase, which will run until mid-January.
As part of the new format, the sides who finish in the top eight will go straight through to the last 16 while those who are between ninth to 24th will go into a play-off before advancing to the round of 16.
Any team that finishes below 24th will be eliminated immediately.
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