Manchester City’s Kyle Walker has now been discussing the prospect of facing either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season.
Both Arsenal and Man City crashed out of the competition at the quarter-final stage this year, something that perhaps had a bearing on the Premier League title race.
Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s side were then able to focus purely on domestic games – leading to both finishing the campaign faultlessly.
Those who perhaps wanted more twists and turns would have benefitted from the distraction of a semi-final in the mix, a game which would have demanded attention.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and English sides will surely be hoping for a better showing in all European competitions next season, after fairly poor year for the league’s coefficient.
That being said, when speaking on his self-titled podcast, Kyle Walker hypothesised who he would have rather faced in the Champions League had City surpassed Real Madrid.
Guardiola’s team lost the tie on penalties, with the two legs initially finishing 4-4.
Kyle Walker says he wouldn’t want to face ‘really good’ Arsenal in Champions League
Having failed to beat Arsenal domestically last season, when speaking on the podcast Walker admitted that he would have preferred to face Bayern.
He explained: “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.”
Of course, Arsenal did ultimately fail to get past Bayern themselves, perhaps still proving their inexperience at that level, failing to make the most of a dominant first leg at the Emirates.
And if the 2024/25 season is to be Pep Guardiola’s last as Manchester City boss, which reports now suggest, then it will be fascinating to see if Arsenal can finally overcome their adversary.
Sure, any league title or silverware will be welcome at Arsenal in the coming years, but in terms of the legacy of this Arteta team, it will count a whole lot more if they can beat a Guardiola side to the title.
Walker will of course refute that possibly, hence the naming of his podcast – ‘You’ll never beat Kyle Walker’.
But Arsenal will be doing everything to ensure they can this summer, aiming to go one win better than last.
That being said, Arteta can’t pass up on the chance to sign the biggest English talent since Declan Rice this summer.