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  "path": "/2026/03/18/troy-deeney-names-two-clubs-will-deny-arsenal-champions-league-27508411/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-18T08:50:15.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Football",
    "Sport",
    "Arsenal",
    "Bayer Leverkusen",
    "Bayern Munich FC",
    "Champions League",
    "Mikel Arteta",
    "Paris Saint-Germain",
    "Premier League",
    "Troy Deeney",
    "3-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the round-of-16",
    "Kai Havertz",
    "last week’s first leg against Leverkusen",
    "Eberechi Eze",
    "Declan Rice",
    "thrashed Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the last-16",
    "6-1 lead over Atalanta",
    "Sign up here",
    "CBS Sports",
    "@metrosportuk",
    "maxdowman",
    "startingxi",
    "saka",
    "championsleague",
    "♬ original sound – Metro Sport – Metro Sport",
    "supports HTML5 video",
    "face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final",
    "knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid",
    "check our sport page",
    "Facebook",
    "Twitter",
    "Instagram",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source"
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  "textContent": "Ex-Premier League striker Troy Deeney (Picture: Getty)\n\nTroy Deeney has praised Arsenal’s ability to ‘grind teams down’ and ‘get over the line’ but says they are unlikely to overcome two rivals in the Champions League.\n\nMikel Arteta’s side booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the round-of-16.\n\nArsenal topped the Champions League group stage but needed a late Kai Havertz penalty to avoid defeat in last week’s first leg against Leverkusen.\n\nThe Gunners had home advantage in the second leg, however, and sealed a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice.\n\nDeeney insists Arsenal are ‘answering every question’ both domestically and in Europe but doubts they will go on to win their first Champions League title.\n\nThe former Premier League striker even thought Bayer Leverkusen were ‘better’ than Arsenal for large periods and says he would back both PSG and Bayern Munich to eliminate the Gunners in Europe.\n\nChampions League holders PSG thrashed Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the last-16 while Bayern have an insurmountable 6-1 lead over Atalanta ahead of their second leg on Wednesday night.\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\nArsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen to reach the quarter-finals (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘It’s interesting because I was watching the Arsenal game and thinking what you can say about them,’ Deeney said on CBS Sports.\n\n‘They’re winning football games, 100%, but they gave Leverkusen a lot of chances in terms of breaking through the lines and getting out wide.\n\n‘Leverkusen kept stopping and trying to rebuild but Sporting [who Arsenal face in the quarter-finals] won’t do that, they will be direct and get crosses in.\n\nPSG battered Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘But Arsenal love that, the two centre-backs love crosses into the box so I can’t really put my finger on who it suits.\n\n‘If you ask me right here, right now, do I think Arsenal win the Champions League? I would say no.\n\n‘The feeling I get with them is there is more for you to give for me, but then again they keep winning games and answering every question.\n\n> @metrosportuk\n>\n> Is Max Dowman Good Enough To START For Arsenal? 🤔 After an impressive 20 minutes against Everton, and becoming the Premier League’s youngest ever goalscorer, you could make the argument that Max Dowman should be a starter for Arsenal. And that’s because of how underwhelming Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke have been on the wing in terms of output, and the same with Eberechi Eze in the middle. #maxdowman #arsenal #startingxi #saka #championsleague\n>\n> ♬ original sound – Metro Sport – Metro Sport\n\n‘I think they can do more and can be fantastic but do I think they beat PSG? No. Do I think in a two-legged game they beat Bayern Munich? No. I know they beat them in the group stage but over two legs?\n\n‘The point I’m making is when you watch Arsenal they don’t give you a sense they’re going to win the Champions League but you do expect them to get the job down so it’s a weird feeling.\n\n‘The only criticism I have of Arsenal at the moment is the performances. They won the game, they were great, but it took a massive save from David Raya to keep a clean sheet and they still gave up moments.\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\n‘I thought in terms of the performance Bayer Leverkusen were better, they played the better stuff.\n\n‘But Arsenal just keep grinding you down and know they won’t make mistakes. They didn’t have that in the backend of Arsene Wenger but they have that now.\n\n‘They have this horrible, steely nastiness to get over the line under Mikel Arteta.’\n\nArsenal looked set to face Bodo-Glimt in the quarter-finals after the Norwegian side beat Portuguese champions Sporting 3-0 in the first leg.\n\nBut Sporting produced an incredible comeback to win the last-16 tie 5-3 on aggregate and set up an intriguing clash with Premier League leaders Arsenal.\n\nArteta’s side still have outside hopes of a historic quadruple and can win their first trophy of the season on Sunday when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.\n\nMan City head to Wembley having slipped nine points behind Arsenal in the title race and been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.\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": "Troy Deeney names two clubs that will deny Arsenal the Champions League"
}