Arsenal have just done Man Utd and Liverpool a big Champions League favour

Manchester United will be happy to see that Premier League rivals Arsenal progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen. The Gunners were tied 1-1 after the first leg in Germany courtesy of Kai Havertz's 89th-minute penalty at the BayArena. That left Arsenal knowing they simply needed to win by any margin at the Emirates Stadium to go into the next round.

Eberechi Eze broke the Bundesliga club's resistance in the 36th minute with a right-foot rocket into the top corner before Declan Rice secured a 3-1 victory on aggregate with a precise second-half strike. Arsenal's progression sets up a quarter-final against Sporting, who came from 3-0 down after the first leg with a 5-0 second-leg win. And that is good news for United, even though they selfishly won't want to see the north Londoners win the Champions League for the first time in their history.

The result means it is pretty much certain that the Premier League will be awarded a fifth Champions League place this season. Every season, UEFA award one extra spot (the European Performance Spot) to two countries whose clubs have collectively outperformed their rivals in European competitions.

England lead the co-efficient rankings above second-placed Spain and third-placed Germany. The Premier League came into the knockout stages with nine clubs competing across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League - at least three more teams than any other nation.

But there was concern for United after the first legs, when none of the six Premier League clubs won in the Champions League. Arsenal drew with Leverkusen while Newcastle held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at St James' Park. As Liverpool suffered a narrow defeat at Galatasaray, Tottenham and Chelsea were both hammered by Atletico Madrid and PSG, respectively. Manchester City also suffered a three-goal loss at Real Madrid.

Chelsea (8-2 vs PSV on aggregate) and City (5-1 vs Real on aggregate) were both dumped out on Tuesday night as Arsenal progressed to the last eight. And though the Gunners could end up the sole Premier League representative in the next stage, the fact they knocked a German club out is important for Man United and co.

Germany are third in the rankings but it is practically impossible for them to overtake England thanks to Leverkusen's exit. Bayern Munich are the only Bundesliga team left in the competition while none of the three German sides in the Europa League have a first-leg lead.

And with fifth in the Premier League also rewarding Champions League qualification this season, thanks to Arsenal, United will now be extra confident of a return to Europe's premier competition. The Red Devils are five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool, and six ahead of Chelsea in sixth.

Manchester United v Aston Villa - Premier League

Manchester United are in excellent form in the Premier League (Image: Getty)

United still have both teams to play before the end of the season and are in far superior form to their rivals in 2026. Since interim manager Michael Carrick took charge, they have won seven games, drawn one and lost one.

After their 21st match of the season, United sat seventh and 11 points adrift of Aston Villa. After beating the Villans 3-1 at the weekend, they are three points above Unai Emery's men. United's next outing sees them travel to 10th-placed Bournemouth, who have drawn all of their last four games, on Friday night.

Arsenal's win is also good news for Liverpool, who failed to beat struggling Wolves or Tottenham in their last two games and appear set for a tough scrap with Villa and Chelsea for the final two Champions League places.

The Reds could crash out of this year's competition tomorrow night, needing a two-goal win over Galatasaray at Anfield to go through. After that, they travel to Brighton, who sit 12th, on Saturday lunchtime.