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  "path": "/2026/03/18/arsenal-bayern-munich-bayer-leverkusen-manager-asked-name-champions-league-favourite-27502829/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-18T02:43:04.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Football",
    "Sport",
    "Arsenal",
    "Bayer Leverkusen",
    "Champions League",
    "Mikel Arteta",
    "Premier League",
    "Bayern Munich",
    "Eberechi Eze",
    "Declan Rice",
    "Sign up here",
    "Paris",
    "check our sport page",
    "Facebook",
    "Twitter",
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    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source"
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  "textContent": "Kasper Hjulmand insists Arsenal are one of the frontrunners to win the Champions League this season\n\nBayer Leverkusen head coach Kasper Hjulmand believes Arsenal and Bayern Munich remain the two standout candidates to win the Champions League this season.\n\nGoals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice sealed Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Leverkusen on Tuesday night and Mikel Arteta’s side will now play Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-final after their epic comeback against Bodo/Glimt in Portugal.\n\nBayern, meanwhile, already have one foot in the last eight of the Champions League following their 6-1 win away to Atalanta last week and will play the Italian side in their second leg on Wednesday night.\n\nHjulmand has extensive experience of facing both Arsenal and Bayern this season, with his side drawing 1-1 against Vincent Kompany’s men last Saturday before their 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.\n\nSpeaking after his side’s Champions League exit, Hjulmand was asked if he believes Arsenal can go all the way in the competition this season.\n\nArsenal will now play Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-final (Getty)\n\n‘Yeah, I think they could,’ Hjulmand said.\n\n##  Your football fix\n\n**Metro** 's Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week's biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.\n\nSign up here, it's an open goal.\n\n‘You can see in the Premier League as well, their lead, the fewest goals against them, the highest number of goal scored, so it’s not a coincidence, and when you structure your game like this it’s very difficult.\n\n##  Champions League quarter-final draw\n\nParis Saint-Germain vs Galatasaray or Liverpool\n\nReal Madrid vs Atalanta or Bayern Munich\n\nNewcastle United or Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid or Tottenham\n\nSporting CP vs Arsenal\n\n‘But I also think Bayern is a very different type of game. They do it differently, Bayern, and they’re a very, very high level.\n\n‘I would say it’s head to head, but there are also other teams in the competition like Paris and Real Madrid. So it’s a tight number of teams and in one game you never know what happens, in two games, in football, and it’s about being ready on the night.\n\n‘But they are definitely… in a tournament like the Premier League I can see why they do so well.’\n\n**For more stories like this,check our sport page**.\n\n**Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on**Facebook, **Twitter and Instagram**.\n\nComment now Comments  Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source ",
  "title": "Arsenal or Bayern Munich? Bayer Leverkusen manager asked to name Champions League favourite"
}