BT Sport pundit and former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has ruled out Arsenal’s chances of winning the Champions League this season.
The Gunners defeated FC Basel 4-1 on Tuesday night and coupled with Paris Saint-Germain slipping up and being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Ludogorets, it meant that Arsenal topped Group A and finished in top spot at this stage of the competition for the first time in five years.
Arsene Wenger will hope that will lead to a favourable draw in the last-16 as he eyes a deep run this season, but Ferdinand doesn’t believe that the Premier League side have the quality to match other teams from around Europe and in turn stake their claim as a genuine contender to win it.
"Not for me!" @rioferdy5 is not convinced #AFC have what it takes to compete with the quality elsewhere in the #UCL. https://t.co/w2KoLCIQp5
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) December 6, 2016
Arsenal will now wait for the draw for the round of 16 on Monday morning, and they could face Benfica, Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen, while other groups involving Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Copenhagen, Sevilla, Lyon and Juventus have yet to be decided.
Many will share Ferdinand’s reservations over Arsenal, but with nine goals in their last two games, confidence returning in the squad after a solid start to the season and with the likes of Hector Bellerin, Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck returning from injury between now and February, they could be a decent shout when at full strength.