Arsenal fans are full of optimism and expectation as their team prepares to return to Champions League action this week with a trip to take on Porto in the first leg of their last 16 knockout tie.
The Gunners remain one of the biggest names in club football not to have ever won this competition, but could this finally be their year? Mikel Arteta’s side clearly won’t have an easy time establishing themselves at the top of Europe’s elite, but there are perhaps reasons to believe this is their best ever opportunity to do it.
Read on for our reasoning as to why Arsenal fans are right to believe that this team can go all the way in this season’s Champions League…
Arsenal’s rise is happening when the Premier League is stronger than ever
While Arsenal never managed to win this competition even under the glory years of Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry and other legendary figures, you could argue that this current team is better equipped than the Invincibles-era Arsenal to compete with Europe’s elite.
Back then, the Premier League was, quite simply, not the Super-League-in-all-but-name that it is these days. Being in the top three in the English top flight now means you’re the real deal, whereas back then Arsenal would find it a significant step up a level when up against even relatively modest teams like Valencia and Roma, let alone the real big guns like Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Still, we now exist in a world where a mid-table side like West Ham can compete for big names like Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus, who in the past would’ve been lining up for some of the top sides around the continent if they hadn’t been snapped up by one of the Premier League’s big six. Our league also boasts managers like Roberto De Zerbi and Unai Emery, who might have a decent claim to be tougher tactical opponents than the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Xavi these days.
Arsenal might not quite have the consistency of Manchester City when it comes to winning the title, but they have shown they’re more than good enough to take anyone on in a two-legged tie or one-off game, just by virtue of how much they’ve dominated in so many of their league matches this season, including in wins against the likes of City and Liverpool.
Some parallels with Liverpool’s 2018/19 winners
Having emerged as another genuine challenger to the Man City juggernaut, it’s inevitable that we have seen Arsenal compared to the Liverpool side of a few years ago. Just like in the early days of the Jurgen Klopp era, when it was obvious the German tactician was going places with the Reds, we’re now seeing Arsenal on a similar trajectory, especially with Arteta now getting the kind of signings he needed to take them to the next level.
The obvious parallel with Liverpool’s 2018/19 Champions League winners is that, like when Klopp added Virgil van Dijk and Alisson for big money, Arsenal have also made significant signings in the form of Declan Rice and David Raya, both of whom now mean Arteta’s side control and dominate games even better than they did last season.
Looking at the squad that came so close to pipping City to the title last year, it wasn’t obvious where AFC could improve, but with Rice and Raya they have simply tweaked a little to go that small but significant step forwards. Let’s see if they can prove to be the game-changers that Van Dijk and Alisson were for Liverpool.
They have recent European title winners in their ranks
With Rice, let’s also not forget that he made the move to the Emirates Stadium on the back of winning an unlikely European title last season. Yes, the Champions League is a considerable step up from the Europa Conference League, but history was also against serial under-achievers West Ham in that competition.
Arsenal also added Kai Havertz to their squad, and while he blew hot and cold at Chelsea, he did make one pretty significant contribution in scoring their winning goal in that 2021 Champions League final victory. The Germany international may have been a little slow to get going at Arsenal, but his recent form suggests we’re finally seeing the best of him, and he could prove to be something of a secret weapon in this competition. And while Jorginho isn’t usually an automatic starter for Arsenal, he was also part of that Chelsea side, so could provide some much-needed know-how and experience to pass on in the dressing room.
This is mostly a pretty young squad, but don’t underestimate the benefit the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba could get from having the likes of Rice and Havertz alongside them, who know what it takes to go all the way and win a European trophy.
Manchester City are their main rivals, but could history repeat itself?
As with the title race, you sense that Arsenal’s biggest opponents to glory in this competition would be last season’s winners Manchester City.
Still, could history repeat itself? It’s worth noting that Pep Guardiola’s side have so often some unstuck in the Champions League when he’s been up against Premier League rivals, with Liverpool blitzing his team aside in their meeting in 2017/18. A year later, it was Tottenham who knocked them out on their way to reaching the final, and of course City were beaten by Havertz and Chelsea in the 2021 final.
Arsenal ended a torrid run against City with three points in their Premier League encounter earlier this season, so they’ll surely fancy their chances of getting the better of them again in a two-legged tie. It would be far from easy, of course, but this now feels like the kind of fixture that the Emirates crowd would relish, and that might put some fear into the City players. If they were to be drawn with each other, and Guardiola started over-thinking his tactics as he’s done before in these big games, it could present a huge opportunity to Arsenal.