The Gunners secure a last-16 spot thanks to a goal from Ethan Nwaneri on his first Champions League start.

The 17-year-old winger curled home the game-winning goal late in the first half as the Gunners rallied from a goal behind to win in Spain, making him the second-youngest English goal scorer in the competition after Jude Bellingham.

In the round of 16, Arsenal will play either Feyenoord, Juventus, AC Milan, or PSV.

Arteta: Arsenal's belief-building

After a very successful league phase campaign, Mikel Arteta, the manager of the Gunners, maintains that his team's confidence is increasing.

Saying, "Really good at the moment," "Everything is going smoothly.

Despite all of the problems they have faced, the team has been very consistent overall, and we won the last four Champions League games. "Hopefully, there will be more belief in the dressing room that we are a good team and can face anyone and still perform and win games."

The Gunners avoid the playoffs.
David Raya was "not fit" to play in the Gunners' last league-phase match, so Arteta made a big change to the starting lineup and gave custodian Neto his Arsenal debut.

The 35-year-old Brazilian, on loan from Bournemouth, did not have the best of starts; he was largely to blame for letting former Tottenham forward Arnaut Danjuma give the home team the lead after 28 minutes.

Jorginho equalised from the penalty spot after Thomas Partey was fouled inside the penalty area, but Girona, who had already lost their first Champions League campaign, wasted their lead shortly after.

Three minutes prior to halftime, Nwaneri scored his sixth goal for Arsenal from the right side to put the Gunners ahead and guarantee all three points.

With Cristhian Stuani slipping in at the far post to put the ball in the net on his 273rd club appearance, Girona might have had a dream Champions League final, but VAR stepped in for offside in the build-up.

After Alejandro Frances handled the ball to give Arsenal a penalty in stoppage time, the Gunners had an opportunity to seal the victory, but Raheem Sterling missed the corner of the net after Pau Lopez dove low to make a save.

However, Arteta's team made sure they skipped February's play-off round and advanced directly to the round of 16, so it didn't matter.

Arteta was questioned about Watkins' bid.

The day of Arsenal's victory, it was revealed that their bid for Ollie Watkins had been turned down.

Villa's stance that Watkins is not for sale makes a move improbable during this window, even though it is anticipated that the Gunners may return with a better offer.

Following the match, Arteta was questioned about Watkins, but the Gunners manager declined to address the England attacker.

According to Arteta, "I can't talk about any of that,"

"I have no doubt that our club is fantastic, with members constantly striving to get better.

"Let's see what happens."

When are the Champions League knockout matches for 2024–2025?

   -Round of 16: March 11/12, 2025, and March 4/5

   -Quarterfinals in 2025: April 8–9 and April 15–16

   -April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025, are the semi-final dates.

   -Last day: May 31, 2025