Kai Havertz set one up then scored himself as Arsenal all but sealed their spot in the Champions League last 16 with a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
The Gunners now sit three points and a healthy goal difference buffer ahead of ninth-placed Aston Villa in the long Champions League table with one game remaining, which means they are set to skip February’s play-off round and will resume the competition a round later in March.
Rice’s second minute thumper – his first Champions League goal – from Havertz’s lay-off provided the perfect start for Arsenal on the way to three points, as the Gunners dominated a game in which they would not concede a single shot on target.
Declan Rice fired Arsenal ahead
Arsenal should have put more in the Dinamo net in the first half with Gabriel missing the best chance from close range. “It’s an absolute sitter,” said Tim Sherwood on Soccer Special.
But just as the Emirates was getting nervous due to the one-goal buffer, Havertz headed home a wicked delivery from Gabriel Martinelli to double the advantage.
Arsenal’s Kai Havertz scored their second goal
It was not only goals in back-to-back home games for the German, but also the 500th goal Arsenal have scored under Mikel Arteta.
And with the game going into stoppage time, substitute Leandro Trossard’s cross found Martin Odegaard to tap home from close range – the Arsenal captain scoring his first goal from open play for club or country since last April.
The win means Arsenal can go to their final Champions League game away at lowly Girona next week with little riding on it.
Why does Arsenal’s exact position matter?
Within the top eight slots, the higher a team finishes within each of the groups that qualify, the better their route – on paper – to the later stages of the tournament will be.
If a team finishes first or second, they will skip the knockout playoffs and play one of the winners of the matches between the 17th/18th and 15th/16th seeds in the round of 16.
However, if a team finishes seventh or eighth, they will skip the knockout playoffs and play one of the winners of the matches between the 9th/10th and 23rd/24th seeds in the round of 16.
Who would Arsenal play currently?
Arsenal are currently in third place which means, if they stayed in this position come the end of the league phase next Wednesday night, they would face the winners of the play-off match between 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th.
The teams currently in those positions are Brest (13th), Borussia Dortmund (14th), PSV Eindhoven (19th) and Club Brugge (20th).
To determine who plays who in the knockout rounds, there will be two draws after the league phase.
The first draw on Friday January 31 at 11am will determine which of the two options each team will get in the knockout playoff. For example, a team finishing 13th will find out whether they are playing against the team finishing 19th or 20th.
Seeded teams (9th-16th) will have the second leg at home and those play-off round matches take place on February 11/12 and February 18/19.
Teams seeded from 1st to 8th will have to wait until Friday February 21 to find out their opponents.
That draw will then determine who they face in the round of 16, and ultimately map out their full path to the final.
When are the 2024/25 Champions League knockout fixtures?
- Round of 16: March 4/5 and March 11/12, 2025
- Quarter-finals: April 8/9 and April 15/16, 2025
- Semi-finals: April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025
- Final: May 31, 2025
