Arsenal have three options to achieve Champions League success this season

Predicting how Arsenal will fare in this season's Champions League is almost an impossible task for so many reasons. One being that it's been a long time since they sat at Europe's table and that could count against them.

On the other hand, with a bit of luck along the way, maybe this is the campaign where the Gunners go one step further than 2006? After all, the final does take place at Wembley next June and Mikel Arteta's record in that stadium as a manager is quite good, to say the least.

As the FA Cup success in 2020 remains the most recent major trophy lifted by Arsenal, the Champions League is one of four opportunities to end the drought and following a £200million-plus spending spree in the summer, the Spaniard certainly has a deep enough squad to fight on several fronts.

In fact, with some bookmakers, the Gunners are fourth favourites - behind Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid - to be crowned champions of Europe come the end of the season. But is that fair? Well, with that in mind, our football.london writers have discussed what success looks like for Arsenal in the Champions League.

Kaya Kaynak - Chief Arsenal Writer

Prior to the draw, I would have said success in the Champions League would have been just getting to the knockouts for Arsenal. People's expectations are high, but it's worth remembering that the Gunners have a pretty awful record in Europe historically, and many teams have struggled during their first season back in the competition after such a long break.

With the group they got though, things have changed. This is a Europa League group with a quality of opponents who wouldn't look totally out of place in the Conference League. Throw in the fact that Sevilla and Lens have made awful starts to the season, while PSV have lost the entire front three from the side that beat Arsenal in the Europa League last season, then there is no excuse for the Gunners not to top the group.

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With that in mind, I think it's fair to revise the assessment of how far will be deemed success for Arsenal. There are so many factors to consider. Of course, you need a kind draw in the knockouts, while the nature of the Premier League title race may change the emphasis placed on the Champions League.

I reckon quarter-finals would be a good outcome for Arsenal though. Anything beyond that, when you factor in how inexperienced this group are, would be a bonus.

Tom Canton - Arsenal Writer

The word success would imply that only winning the competition could be labelled as such, however, perhaps Arsenal’s expectation in the Champions League will be to go as far as what is realistically feasible. I see it in a binary way, which is rare in the sport, but for me, only teams better than the club should be knocking them out.

Lose again to an Olympiacos, Villarreal or Sporting CP like Mikel Arteta has in Europa League attempts and yes, this has been a failure in the competition. There are truly only three teams in the Champions League who stand out to me that I'd feel okay about not progressing past: Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Barcelona have looked strong this season and there are other big sides like PSG, Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund, for example, but I feel confident Arsenal should still be progressing past these clubs. The aforementioned trio of hyper clubs, though, will be looking at Arsenal as a side they should progress past should they face off.

Therefore there's not necessarily a stage of the competition I am looking at. For me, it is all about who Arsenal play. Don’t play any of these three teams and I’d be disappointed we didn’t win it.

Tashan Deniran-Alleyne - Arsenal Writer

I have gone on record stating my concerns about Arsenal in the Champions League this season. It's been a while since we've heard that anthem ring around the Emirates Stadium on a Tuesday or Wednesday night but in truth, Mikel Arteta's record in Europe, particularly in the knockout stages, is very poor so it feels like another round of 16 exit is on the cards.

This was before the group stage draw was made and without trying to sound too negative, my stance hasn't changed even after being paired with Sevilla, PSV Eindhoven and RC Lens. That is simply because many teams have struggled during their first season back in the competition after a long absence.

With that said, I would expect Arsenal to qualify from Group B as winners, just about, but I've got a feeling they will be paired with Real Madrid - with the LaLiga giants finishing runners-up to Napoli - in the round of 16 and unfortunately, that tie would be a step too far for this crop of players.

So, I'm of the belief that a spot in the knockout stage has to be the bare minimum for the Gunners in the Champions League this season. However, I'm not so confident in calling that a successful campaign as they would have to win the competition but a quarter-final appearance or beyond would surpass my expectations.