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…
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,
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