Round of 16 Preview

Two Premier League teams have made it through to the last 16 of the Champions League – current holders Manchester City, and the team that finished behind them in the domestic league last year, Arsenal. We have some fantastic VIP hospitality packages available at both the Etihad and the Emirates for these fixtures in March, so don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01454 201210 to discuss your requirements.

After topping their qualifying group without dropping a single point, Manchester City have a favourable draw for a place in the Quarter Finals, against Danish champions FC Copenhagen. The Danish side will be a familiar foe to most of the City players, after they met in the group stage of last year’s competition – City comfortably winning 5-0 at the Etihad, before being held to a draw in the reverse fixture. FC Copenhagen are currently ranked 37th in UEFA’s rankings, and Pep Guardiola will be feeling rightly confident that his side will make it through to the last 8 once again. There are a couple of familiar names in the Danish side – Moi Elyounoussi who enjoyed spells at Celtic and Southampton over recent years, plus the Hojlund twins – younger brothers of Manchester United’s Rasmus. Copenhagen qualified a little unexpectedly from their group, at the expense of Manchester United and Galatasaray, coming from 2-0 down to beat United 4-3 in their home tie back in November.

Copenhagen host Manchester City in the first leg on February 13th, before the return fixture in Manchester on Wednesday 6th March. Give us a call or click here for more information on the wonderful Etihad hospitality we can offer.

Arsenal face a potentially sterner test in the shape of one of Portuguese football’s historic big three – FC Porto. Champions of Portugal in 2021/22, they relinquished their crown to Benfica last season, and the two are currently in a three-way battle for top spot with Sporting Lisbon. UEFA rank Porto 19th in European football, two places above Arsenal, but the Gunners will still consider this to be a winnable tie. Mikel Arteta’s side qualified with relative ease from their group, topping it ahead of PSV Eindhoven, and will travel to Portugal for the first leg on February 21st, before
welcoming Porto to the Emirates on Tuesday March 12th.

History suggests that if Arsenal can come away from that first leg having avoided defeat, they will be in pole position to progress to the next round – Porto have failed to score on their three previous Champions League visits to North London – fixtures in 2006, 2008 and 2010 that Arsenal won 2-0, 4-0 and 5-0 – the most recent game of which featured a treble from Nicklas Bendtner.

We’ve got Cannon Club Level hospitality packages at the Emirates for this game, with access to the Club Level facilities two and half hours before kick off, and an hour after the final whistle, plus pre-match food, a complimentary half time drink, and of course VIP seating in the stadium for this mouthwatering clash.

We look forward to hearing from you, and helping you to find just what you need to have a magical football experience at one of these wonderful stadiums.

CONTACT THE TEAM

Give Us a call on 01454 201210 or email enquiries@circuithospitality.com to see how we can help you.