Arsenal’s dream and nightmare ends to season with William Saliba future decided

Arsenal still have the Champions League to play for ahead of their quarter-final tie against Real Madrid, though their Premier League title dream looks to be fading with Liverpool now 15 points clear

There will be a real feeling of “what if” around Arsenal‘s 2024-25 campaign. After agonisingly losing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City two seasons running, there was a real chance to finally go one better this time around.

Finishing on 89 points and still missing out on the title is tough and that’s what happened to Arsenal last season as City edged them by two points.

After Pep Guardiola‘s men suffered a dramatic drop-off in form this season, most expected Arsenal to rise up as the dominant force – but it has been Liverpool who have claimed that spot.

Arsenal have been punished by their failings in the transfer market after they were unable to bring in the new forward they desperately needed in either window and brought in just two new faces. The Gunners are now 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool and look destined to miss out on the title once again.

The club still have things to play for and some important factors to focus on as they bid to end their campaign on a high. Mirror Football has decided to take a look into the future to see how things could pan out.

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Dream end

Arsenal still have the Champions League to fight for and after thumping PSV 9-3 on aggregate, they should feel pretty bullish about their chances – even without a recognised striker.

While it might not be realistic – especially with 15-time winners Real Madrid standing in their way in the quarter-finals – a dream end to the season would be for Arsenal to win their first ever Champions League trophy.

Once you get to the last-eight of any competition, you should have an ambition to win it, though Mikel Arteta will be wary that his side face a huge task against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham – who are the reigning champions.

Should they stun Madrid across both legs, they will then have to come up against either Premier League rivals Aston Villa or Paris Saint-Germain in the semis, with the Ligue 1 side set to be favourites to overcome Unai Emery’s men.

They would then likely come up against Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the final and how every Arsenal fan would love to see the team attone for their heartache in the 2006 final against Barca, when the Gunners took the lead before losing 2-1. In the Premier League, Arsenal still have a mathematical chance of catching Liverpool in the title race, but it seems to be a distant dream.

Liverpool would have to drop a huge number of points to surrender their lead – while Arsenal would have to win practically all of their remaining games. They still have Liverpool to play on May 10 – and they would need to be no more than nine points adrift by that point.

Given that Liverpool have lost only one match all season, this predicament seems incredibly unlikely, so Arsenal will hope to solidify second place and finish the campaign as strongly as possible.

They’re still only four points ahead of third-placed Nottingham Forest and they’ll be wary of taunts that they “finished third in a two-horse race” if they cannot hold onto their current position.

Arsenal will also be hopeful of welcoming back some first team players who have been out injured for long spells. Bukayo Saka has been out for the last few months with a torn hamstring but is expected back in the coming weeks, while Riccardo Calafiori picked up another knee problem during international duty.

Nightmare end

The Champions League is the first port of call to address, because that is the last piece of silverware that Arsenal can realistically win this season.

The first leg of their quarter-final tie against Real Madrid will take place on April 8, two games after the international break – with the first leg at the Emirates.

Some would argue it is better to have the second leg at home to ensure you are cheered on by your fans for the decisive part of the tie – and it might be a tall order heading to the intimidating Bernabeu in order to get through.

Arsenal’s defence has impressed this season but they haven’t faced too many players of Mbappe or Vinicius Jr’s quality so far and they could rip them to shreds if they aren’t 100 percent focused and prepared.

Arsenal fans will have bad memories of Lionel Messi single-handedly destroying them during a few Champions League knockout ties over the last decade and a half and Madrid have the players to cause that level of damage.

A worst-case scenario would see Arsenal dealt a humiliating defeat by Madrid, with their Champions League run over by the second leg on April 16. Arsenal will play three Premier League games before and in the middle of their ties against Carlo Ancelotti’s side and must keep up the consistency in those games too.

Liverpool know they can win the title as early as April 13 at home to West Ham if Arsenal lose their next two games against Fulham and Everton and the Reds win their next two against the same identical teams.

In that scenario, Arsenal’s title race could be over even before their second leg against Madrid takes place. Should all those outcomes happen, Arsenal would have nothing to play for with six league games left to play.

Arsenal would then be fighting to secure second place with Forest breathing down their necks – and Nuno Espirito Santo’s men would have had time to catch up if the Gunners had dropped that many points. Securing Champions League football should be a formality, you would think, because only a total disaster could see Arsenal slip outside the top five if UEFA grants England five spots as expected.

There is also the future of a handful of key players to consider. Centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba both only have two years left to run on their contracts at the Emirates and could have interest from clubs this summer.

Arsenal will hope that a cataclysmic end to the season does not cause the duo to turn their heads amid reports that Saudi clubs are circling for Gabriel, while Madrid are said to be chasing a move for Saliba.

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