Olivia Smith was among the scorers as Arsenal beat Belgian side OH Leuven 3-0 at the Den Dreef Stadion on Wednesday night in the Champions League [Unnati Naidu/SPP]

ARSENAL’S reward for thumping OH Leuven on their own patch was to be paired with the Belgian side yet again in February’s Champions League knockout play-offs.

If the holders can repeat their success in the two-legged affair it will set up a date against London rivals Chelsea in the quarter-finals.

The Gunners did their best to avoid the play-offs, beating OH Leuven 3-0 at Den Dreef Stadion on Wednesday night thanks to efforts from Olivia Smith and Beth Mead, and an own-goal from Saar Janssen.

But Renee Slegers’ side still missed out on an elusive top-four place, and with it automatic qualification for the last-eight, as they finished just a point behind Bayern Munich.

“We kept track of the other games and the standings during the second half,” admitted Arsenal boss Slegers after the final whistle.

“The win was everything we could achieve today – the three points were most important and we did that. So we ended up in fifth place in the table. We’ll see the draw, but I’m really happy with the performance, clean sheet and result.”