{"id":7044,"date":"2026-04-17T02:27:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7044"},"modified":"2026-04-17T02:27:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:27:36","slug":"martin-keown-names-the-team-arsenal-must-avoid-to-win-champions-league-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7044","title":{"rendered":"Martin Keown names the team Arsenal must avoid to win Champions League | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70.png?w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27998737\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Arsenal legend Martin Keown (Picture: TNT Sports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Martin Keown has backed Arsenal to reach the Champions League final and says he wants his former club to avoid holders PSG.<\/p>\n<p>Mikel Arteta\u2019s Premier League leaders face La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals after beating Portuguese champions Sporting in the quarters.<\/p>\n<p>Kai Havertz\u2019s injury-time goal separated the two sides after the first leg in Lisbon and Arsenal held Sporting to a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium to go through.<\/p>\n<p>It was not the most convincing performance from an Arsenal team who just weeks ago were chasing a historic quadruple but have since fallen short in both domestic cup competitions and given Manchester City hope in the title race.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal will face Atletico Madrid for a place in the Champions League final after Diego Simeone\u2019s side beat La Liga rivals Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side of the draw, Champions League holders PSG continue their title defence against German champions Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n<p>Keown believes Arsenal will overcome Atletico to reach their first Champions League final since 2006 and says he would \u2018prefer\u2019 to face Bayern Munich than PSG in the showpiece event on May 30.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271590021.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27999025\" alt=\"Arsenal FC v Sporting Clube de Portugal - UEFA Champions League 2025\/26 Quarter-Final Second Leg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Arsenal beat Sporting in the Champions League quarter-finals (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Asked for his prediction for the Champions League final line-up, Keown said on TNT Sports: \u2018It\u2019s too hard to call.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ll go with Bayern to get through on that side of the draw. An Arsenal-Bayern final.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019ve\u00a0seen out here already that Arsenal can beat Bayern Munich but Bayern are going through the gears now obviously.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271588972.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27999054\" alt=\"FC Bayern M\u00fcnchen v Real Madrid CF - UEFA Champions League 2025\/26 Quarter-Final Second Leg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Bayern Munich overcame Real Madrid in the quarters (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I would still prefer Arsenal to play Bayern though just because of PSG\u2019s pace which is ridiculous.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal sealed emphatic victories over semi-final opponents Atletico Madrid and possibly Champions League finalists Bayern Munich in the group stage, beating the Spanish side 4-0 and the German outfit 3-1.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Cole also expects the Gunners to advance at the expense of Atletico despite their recent unconvinving form.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271349647.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27999164\" alt=\"Atletico De Madrid V Fc Barcelona - Uefa Champions League 2025\/26 Quarter-final Second Leg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Atletico Madrid face Arsenal in the semi-finals (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Arsenal fans should be\u00a0very, very confident,\u2019 Cole said on TNT Sports. \u2018They always knew they were on the better side of the draw.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018A semi-final against an Atletico Madrid team that we saw against Barcelona, Arsenal\u00a0are\u00a0a lot stronger in so many different areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The only thing that Atletico Madrid\u00a0have\u00a0got over them is experience but I still think the double is on for Arsenal, I really do.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It will be chaos but Arsenal can\u2019t be gentlemen in a game like that. There will be dark arts from Atletico so Arsenal need to manage that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal now put their Champions League aspirations on hold and turn their attentions to a huge Premier League clash against title rivals Manchester City on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Arteta\u2019s side, chasing a first league title since 2004, boast a six-point lead over Man City, who have a game in hand.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal drew 1-1 with City in the reverse fixture but lost 2-0 to Pep Guardiola\u2019s team in last month\u2019s Carabao Cup final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: \u2018Look no further!\u2019 \u2013 Sam Allardyce urges Manchester United to sign \u00a330m striker<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Patrick Vieira makes Arsenal title and Champions League prediction<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Paul Merson urges Michael Carrick to drop Manchester United star for Chelsea clash<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/> Martin Keown names the team Arsenal must avoid to win Champions League | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Martin #Keown #names #team #Arsenal #avoid #win #Champions #League #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal legend Martin Keown (Picture: TNT Sports) Martin Keown has backed Arsenal to reach the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[361,328,329,317,2024,326,444,324,327,1349],"class_list":["post-7044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-arsenal","tag-avoid","tag-champions","tag-football","tag-keown","tag-league","tag-martin","tag-names","tag-team","tag-win"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429.png",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-300x158.png",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-768x403.png",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-1024x538.png",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429.png",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429.png",1200,630,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-1024x538.png",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/keown-7d70_1776369429-540x340.png",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a 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