In the long history of the Champions League, it is hard to believe that a club as big as Arsenal are yet to get their hands on the competition.
The 2006 edition of Europe’s biggest competition saw the North London club finish runners-up, which has been their best-ever finish to date. The Premier League side were defeated 2-1 by Barcelona in Paris and they have yet to return to that stage.
When asked why Arsenal have yet to get their hands on the Champions League, Mikel Arteta said in his press conference ahead of their match with RC Lens on Wednesday: “Don’t take it for granted because the Champions League is extremely difficult and the moment you miss it, then you realize how important it is, but at the same time how difficult it is to win it.
“Now we seem to see three or four teams not being in the Champions League when they should be and sounds like a catastrophe but that is the reality of the level of this league as well. So to me, to be in this competition and playing the Premier League you have to take credit for that because it’s very complicated.”
The Champions League is harder than ever to win given the dominance of the teams at the top of the pyramid in the modern game and when asked about winning this season’s tournament, Arteta said the Gunners are going to try but will need some luck along the way.
The Gunners coach stated: “It is a dream but it’s an impossible dream because these are football games and the teams are really good and games are decided in details and in other moments, but we are certainly getting experience to compete at that level and to be closer to that situation [of winning the competition].
“A lot of things have to go your way [to win the Champions League], you have to obviously perform on an incredible level to have the opportunity to do that. We are going to try it, that’s for sure.”
Arsenal are on course to win their group and with a favourable draw then likely in the Last 16, the Gunners will be in good shape to have a run at winning Europe’s biggest prize.