Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he would prefer to avoid a Europa League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid after beating AC Milan in the last 16.
England striker Danny Welbeck scored twice – either side of a long-range strike from Granit Xhaka – as the Gunners won the second leg 3-1.
Hakan Calhanoglu had opened the scoring for Milan, but the Italian side fell to a 5-1 aggregate defeat.
“We would certainly want to avoid Atletico Madrid,” said Wenger.
The draw for the quarter-finals – which features teams from eight countries – will take place on Friday at 12:00 GMT.
This was Arsenal’s third win in a week after their first-leg victory in Milan and Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat of Watford.
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Prior to victory at the San Siro, the Gunners had lost four successive games in all competitions.
“It’s much better. We needed that to recover from our results,” Wenger said.
“It shows how the team has responded. We had a difficult game but in the end we won it. If we have the results and the way to play football, the crowds will be behind us.”
The @Arsenal flags keep blowing across Europe …🔴⚽ #YaGunnersYa #NextRound #UEL pic.twitter.com/yx9eqwIli0
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) March 15, 2018
Victory means Arsenal will play in a first European quarter-final since 2010, when they were knocked out of the Champions League 6-3 on aggregate by Barcelona.
“We needed it. It was about getting the job done tonight and being professional,” said midfielder Jack Wilshere, who returns to the England squad for the forthcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy.
“We didn’t start well but it woke us up. They got a good goal early on and made us work for it.”
Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are favourites to win the Europa League after Borussia Dortmund – previously tipped for the title – lost 2-1 on aggregate to Austrian side RB Salzburg.
“We are happy to be through to the next round and we will see who we get,” Wilshere added.
“When we looked at the draw before, AC Milan was probably not one of the teams we fancied but we showed we can play against the top teams in Europe.”
