Needing just a point to ensure their rightful place in the last 16 of the Champions League, Arsenal's final league phase encounter takes them to Girona's Montilivi base on Wednesday evening.
The third-placed Gunners eased to a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb last time out in Europe, but their hosts lost 1-0 to AC Milan on matchday seven and have already been consigned to an early exit.
Match preview
© Imago
As Liverpool and Barcelona ride off into the last-16 sunset, Arsenal are next in line at the gate, as Mikel Arteta's men head to the Iberian Peninsula knowing that a win or a draw will comfortably see them through to the next phase without the need for a two-legged playoff.
Even if the Gunners fall short, it would take an astonishing set of results for them to lose their grip on a top-eight spot, so Arteta and co can surely start to draw up their itinerary for their customary Dubai trip while 16 sides contest the playoffs next month.
Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard were among the goals as Arsenal strolled to a 3-0 beating of Dinamo Zagreb on the penultimate matchday, a result that saw the Gunners make club history, as they won three consecutive European Cup/Champions League games by at least three goals for the first time.
Still yet to concede from open play in this season's competition, Arsenal also flexed their defensive muscles in Saturday's Premier League clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, where they survived a highly controversial Myles Lewis-Skelly sending-off and prevailed 1-0 by virtue of a fine Riccardo Calafiori finish.
After only recording one victory from their first four matches of 2025, Arteta's men now have three wins under their belt from their most recent four matches and remain in contention for a masterful Premier League and UCL double, even if overhauling Liverpool in the former competition will take some doing.
© Imago
Liverpool coincidentally represent one of six clubs to have got the better of hosts Girona in the 2024-25 Champions League, where last season's La Liga surprise package have been subjected to several reality checks, including in their most recent affair versus AC Milan.
To the White and Reds' credit, they were not blown to smithereens by the seven-time European champions, but a first-half Rafael Leao strike was enough to condemn them to another 1-0 defeat, the same scoreline they were beaten by against Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.
Girona's only triumph in Europe so far this season came against Slovan Bratislava - one of two teams with zero points on the board - and Michel's 29th-placed men are therefore simply playing for pride on Wednesday following their early elimination.
Having also scored a grand total of zero goals in their last four European defeats, Girona could now become the first team from one of Europe's big five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1) to lose five consecutive Champions League matches while failing to score each time.
Also suffering a notable downturn in La Liga fortunes this season, the hosts were beaten 2-1 by Rayo Vallecano at the weekend - leaving them eighth in the table - highlighting the difficulties Champions League new boys often face when it comes to juggling domestic and continental commitments.
Team News
© Imago
Arsenal received a welcome double boost in training on Tuesday, as Odegaard (illness) and Mikel Merino (knock) were both involved in the session after missing the win over Wolves and have travelled for the contest.
Lewis-Skelly's three-game ban has also now been overturned - not that it impacted his availability for the trip to Girona - but Gabriel Jesus (ACL), Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Ben White (knee) are still sidelined.
Afforded little respite up front due to a lack of activity in the transfer market, Havertz is bidding to score for the fourth Champions League game in a row this week; the last German to achieve that feat was Borussia Dortmund icon Marco Reus back in 2015.
As for Girona, Michel will have to contend without the services of Tottenham Hotspur-owned attacker Bryan Gil, who serves a one-game European ban on account of picking up three yellow cards in the tournament.
Gil's ban is one of three new concerns for the luckless hosts, who also lost Daley Blind and number one goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to injury against Rayo Vallecano; the former pulled a muscle while Gazzaniga was struggling with back pain.
Michel was immediately more optimistic about Gazzaniga's chances of making the cut this week, but he has now ruled both of them out alongside Miguel Gutierrez (ankle) and Ladislav Krejci (groin).
Girona possible starting lineup:
P. Lopez; Martinez, D. Lopez, Juanpe, Frances; Romeu, Herrera; Tsygankov, Van de Beek, Danjuma; Ruiz
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Calafiori; Odegaard, Jorginho, Merino; Nwaneri, Havertz, Martinelli
We say: Girona 0-2 Arsenal
Girona's lack of Champions League goals do not tell the full story - they have amassed 8.9 Expected Goals but have only made the net ripple four times - suggesting that they may not be in their current predicament had they been a touch more clinical.
However, Arsenal appear to be rediscovering their defensive steel, and Arteta's men should have no problem breaching their hosts' injury-hit backline on multiple occasions as they sail through to the last 16.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
