ARSENAL comfortably beat OH Leuven to finish the Women's Champions League league stage on a positive note. Now, they'll face their most recent opponents in the play-off round, which means they'll meet WSL and London rivals Chelsea in the quarter-finals.
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Goals from Olivia Smith and Beth Mead, along with an own goal from Leuven defender Saar Janssen, helped the title holders win in Belgium and secure their place in the play-offs.
Arsenal controlled the game throughout, taking 25 shots, 13 of which were on target.
Their opponents didn't manage a single meaningful shot, with Arsenal's third-choice keeper Anneke Borbe barely having to make a save.
After the match, Mead said: "We know Leuven are a really hard team to break down, so it's nice to get goals.
We could've been a bit more clinical, but happy to get the three goals. You get a lot of touches on the ball and for me individually I love doing that, so it was a nice game to be part of. I was happy with my performance, happy to get the goal, played well and got the win. I know we finished fifth, which puts us in a good position moving forward."
Arsenal finished one point behind Bayern Munich in fourth place.
The German side had come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against the Gunners. If Arsenal had avoided conceding three second-half goals, they wouldn't have had to play two extra games in the knockout play-offs.
Although they narrowly missed out on the last automatic quarter-final spot, finishing fifth means Arsenal are top seed for the knockout games.
This gives them a home advantage in the second leg of their play-off against Leuven. If they defeat Leuven again, they'll face Chelsea in the quarter-finals, who were drawn in the same bracket.
Manchester United, the other team in Arsenal's seeding pair, who finished sixth after beating Juventus 1-0, will face Atletico Madrid.
The first legs are scheduled for the 11th or 12th of February, with the second legs one week later on the 18th or 19th. Both Arsenal and United will be playing at home.
Chelsea, on the other hand, advanced directly to the quarter-finals after coming from behind in Germany to beat Wolfsburg 3-1.
Their win marked the first time an English team had beaten Wolfsburg on German soil.
Wolfsburg started strongly, capitalizing on a poor clearance from Chelsea's goalkeeper Livia Peng.
Alexandra Popp scored the first goal with a half-volley.
Despite Wolfsburg's chances to extend their lead, Chelsea frustrated them throughout the match, with Lucy Bronze making a crucial goal-line clearance to deny Lineth Beerensteyn.
Chelsea equalized before halftime when Bronze headed in a corner.
They turned the game around in the second half with another header from Sam Kerr.
The win put Chelsea in third place in the league stage, securing automatic qualification for the quarter-finals.
Bronze, who was named player of the match, said: "You put the work in now in the first half of the season and I think it saves you a little bit in the second half. It was definitely a tough game today, one of our hardest in the Champions League. Coming here to Wolfsburg has never been easy. Someone said it's the first time an English team has actually won here. So that's a good record to have finally cracked. Overall a really tough game. Both teams went really strong until the end and it was quite enjoyable to play in."
Chelsea dominated the league stage, conceding just three goals across their six games.
Their next European game is on the 24th or 25th of March for the first leg of the quarter-final, with the second leg a week later on the 1st or 2nd of April. They'll face the winner of Arsenal vs OH Leuven.