No more excuses. Arsenal have fallen at the last 16 stage the past four seasons straight. Arsene Wenger has presided over continental failure on a consistent basis with Arsenal's ambition in the Champions League seemingly limited to qualifying from the groups. The malcontents around the Emirates will point at the club's underwhelming European record in recent seasons as one of the myriad reasons why Wenger should now depart.
But now, there is a chance for Wenger to evade the arrows, for a little while longer at least. Stiff resistance was met in the last two seasons with Bayern Munich accounting for the Gunners; the serial German champions have made huge forward strides in the competition in the past half-decade while English elites have regressed.
Finally, Arsenal have the plum draw. "Porto or Monaco" was trending on Twitter on Monday morning as Arsenal fans described their dream opposition for the knockout rounds. Those two were seen to be among the less capable group winners in the Champions League draw with Monaco even weaker than their Portuguese counterparts.
Monaco only managed four goals in the weakest Champions League group, seeing off Zenit and Benfica to qualify along with Bayer Leverkusen. Arsenal, then, could not have wished for a better draw considering the big names like Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez have departed Monte Carlo.
Given Arsenal's recent struggles, this tie will come as a huge boost.
Cast your mind back 12 months and Real Madrid were preparing to face Schalke in the Champions League last 16. It might have been seen as a tricky draw for the soon-to-be European champions but Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, in 90 short minutes, made a mockery of those suggestions. They were 6-0 up heading into injury time in the first leg at the Veltins Arena before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hit a spectacular consolation.
Much has changed around Gelsenkirchen since, with Jens Keller replaced by Roberto di Matteo. Results in this competition have been maddeningly inconsistent with intrepid displays like the draw at Chelsea being levelled out by abject defeats to the same opposition, as well as Sporting. Schalke are indeed capable of matching illustrious opponents and there is plenty of talent in the ranks but there are glaring weaknesses in too many sectors.
They have not yet played to their collective strengths on a consistent basis. For that reason, Real - the defending champions and Liga leaders - will be looking to feast on the Bundesliga side.
The Swiss champions have been rewarded for their elimination of Liverpool with one of the kinder draws in the knockout stages. There were plenty of sharks lurking in the last 16 draw given the might of the group winners all around Europe but Basel have managed to land one of the relatively small fry.
Porto have blown hot and cold in the Champions League so far and remain a work in progress under new coach Julen Lopetegui even if they have boasted one of the stars of the competition in Yacine Brahimi.
Basel, on the other hand, have been the model of consistency this season and have not missed a beat under their new coach Paulo Sousa. Furthermore, they fought off interest in their two big stars Fabian Frei and Fabian Schar over the summer and, if they keep those two beyond the transfer window, they will be a good match for Porto.
Their football is fluent and their way of working gives a template to other smaller clubs in similar situations. They produce world-class talent, scout well and make plenty of money in selling those players on. At the moment, however, they have added competitiveness at the top level to their list of attributes.
We could see them among the list of the top eight teams in Europe come spring if they play to their potential against Porto.
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