Following the win over BATE Borisov last night, Arsenal have been drawn against Rennes in the Europa League Round of 16.
The two sides have never met in European competition before, so it’s fresh opposition as we look to make it through to the quarter-finals. There are some Arsenal connections though:
- Petr Cech spent two seasons there before signing for Chelsea.
- Mikael Silvestre played for them between 1996-1998 before joining Inter Milan.
- Junichi Inamoto played with them for a season in 2009-10.
- FA Cup penalty scoring hero Kim Kallastrom spent two seasons there before moving to Lyon
- Sylvain Wiltord started his career there, and came back for a second spell between 2007 and 2009.
When a goalkeeper makes the draw good things happen!
Quand le gardien de but fait le tirage au sort les bonnes choses se passent !
Cuando el portero hace el sorteo buenas cosas pasan . Gracias .@Palop1 #gkunion ? pic.twitter.com/aLEheXxvpg— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) February 22, 2019
The Gunners will be at home in the first leg which will be played on March 7th, with the return leg the following week on March 14th.
There’s not a lot more to say about it than that, so if you’re planning a trip, get your SkyScanner app out.
Great! Hope I can watch my beloved Arsenal live in action for the first time.
Does anyone know as to how can I get tickets in the away leg and in the away section (with fellow Arsenal fans)?
With great difficulty I think, especially as Rennes is about as close and easy to get to as we could’ve got from a foreign side.
Not sure if away European tickets this season go on sale to red members?
Are you in a Supporters Club in France? Usually the local Supporter Clubs get some tickets.
StubHub have tickets for sale, I’ve never bought one there so don’t take my word for it. They’re asking for €200 for the away fans….
Usually Viagogo would have Europa Leauge games tickets, however I haven’t seen any Arsenal tickets yet… Maybe they’ll be up for sale later on.
As an Away Ticket Scheme member, I have priority purchase but I’m not sure if I will go. You may be able to use mine.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Since they have now changed the schedule (away leg being first) – I can’t make it. I have to be somewhere else due to work on that day 🙁
The away leg is now first. Changed because Chelsea being at home
I swear Arseblog news had this article up 5 seconds after the draw was announced!
Probably had an article drawn up for every possible outcome and it was just a matter of waiting for it to be announced and pressing enter!
Ideal travel wise for the away leg. Poor Chelsea having to go to Kiev!
Good draw. We avoided some of the bigger teams and avoided some longer distance travel.
I’ll take that, though maybe facing a ‘top’ team would give given us a boost
Perfect draw! Shit French team so not much travelling and and two easy games. Shame we’re away second leg.
No excuse for not progressing!
Petr Cech spent 2 seasons there as well
It seems all of our players that have been there only did two years there… No more… No less…
Nice draw for us. Really thought we were going to get Sevilla near the end there.
Salzburg – Napoli should be a good tie as well, could be a shock there if Napoli prioritise the league.
A tricky match, considering how crap we can be. Could’ve been worse though.
Bollocks! Have you had a look at the French league table? They are a very average side in a very average league. This is like drawing West Brom or Sheffield United: over two legs there’s no way we should lose.
This better be a 8pm kick off both legs btw. Chelsea can suffer from the 3pm Thursday kick offs for a change.
UEFA won’t want us and Chelsea both playing in London at the same time, so I suspect one of the games will be moved to 17:55, or played on Wednesday instead.
Ben Arfa will surely be delighted to shake hands with the coach who let him out 14 months without reason when in PSG.
Yeah, of course there was no reason whatsoever.
On his day, Ben Harfa can be incredible. A match winner. Let’s hope his feud with Emery won’t wake up the gifted devil. ..
Small pet peeve but can we stop using american dating please. Thanks x
After our away loss to Bate Barisovs, I wouldn’t think any one would be easy for us. It could have been worse, but if we can keep our players fit and ready, we should win this round.
If Arsen was still here, he would say” Well, I think it will be a difficult game for us. Renne, are a fantastic side, with great mental attitude. But you know, we have the focus and desire to go all the way.”
That’s a decent impression of what Arsene would say, hehehehehehe. 🙂
He might also have said something about upholding the club’s values. Which is not nearly as funny nowadays.
Are they any good this season?
11th in Ligue 1. I still wouldn’t underestimate them, you just never know what sort of performance we’ll come out with.
Hope a couple of the ‘other 5’ that Emery thinks can win the EL play each other.
The pressure will truly be on Chelsea. Facing a scrap for top 4 and now facing a transfer ban for 2 windows (haha), winning this tournament becomes all the more critical for them. They can’t be pleased about having to go to Kiev. Come on you Ukrainians!
I’ll take that!
Anyone know how long Lacazette is suspended for?
Straight reds amount to only 1 game suspension unless the suspension is extended, usually for serious offenses. So he should be available for the next match.
Rennes, I wouldn’t underestimate this team; like we did BATE in the 1st leg. Rennes have a lot of pace on the wings, skilful central players (Grenier & Ben Arfa) who have played for big European clubs like PSG, Roma etc. Also, there striker (Niang) isn’t a typical forward. However, was on the books of AC Milan for years and links up well with fellow Senegalese international Sarr on the RW. Additionally, to this, Rennes knocked out Betis (who finished top of their group knocking out AC Milan). We should make the 1/4 finals. However, it will be a tough… Read more »
Good draw. And some of the other more competitive teams (Inter, Frankfurt, Salzburg, Napoli) are playing each other.
We have got to win this thing.