Arsenal or Bayern Munich? Kyle Walker names team he would’ve wanted to face in Champions League if Man City had beaten Real Madrid
Kyle Walker made his pick between Arsenal and Bayern Munich with regards to whom he would have preferred to face in the UEFA Champions League if Manchester City defeated Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal and Bayern Munich were pitted against each other in the quarter-finals and the clash ended in a 1-0 score, eliminating the Gunners while the Bavarians advanced to the semi-finals.
After Real Madrid bagged a 4-3 win on penalties against Pep Guardiola's squad in the quarter-final, the Spanish side faced Bayern in the semis and earned a 4-3 victory to reach the Champions League final.
Manchester City right-back, Kyle Walker considered the scenario in which his club advanced into the semis instead of Real Madrid. He explained which team between the Gunners and the Bavarians he would have wanted to face next.
On his You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast, the English defender chose Bayern as City's opponents over the Gunners, whom they could not defeat domestically in the 2023-2024 season.
Kyle Walker said:
"I’m thinking that if we would have got through the Real Madrid tie, I would have preferred Bayern than Arsenal because I think Arsenal are a really good team at the minute."
Mikel Arteta's squad faced Manchester City twice in the Premier League, with the first clash taking place in October 2023, where the Gunners bagged a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. Both teams met again in March in a game that ended in a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal reached the Champions League quarter-finals after 14 years in the 2023-24 season
The Gunners faced Porto in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League this season. In the first leg, the Portuguese club bagged a 1-0 win before Leandro Trossard leveled the tie in the second leg. Mikel Arteta's side qualified for the quarter-finals after bagging a 4-2 on penalties win.
This was the first time that Arsenal made it to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals since the 2009-10 season.
However, the Gunners' Champions League journey came to an end after they lost 3-2 on aggregate against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. The first leg ended in a 2-2 draw at Emirates Stadium. In the second leg, the Gunners failed to score and Bayern won via Joshua Kimmich's goal in the 63rd minute.
If Arteta's side made it to the semi-finals, it would have been for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
As both the Gunners and Manchester City were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the UEFA competition, there were no Premier League clubs in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2019-20 season.