Manchester City and Arsenal will be confident of progress but Barcelona and PSG face tough assignments in the first knockout round
Defeat in the 2006 final remains Arsenal’s best performance in the Champions League but, having improved the squad over the summer, and beaten Manchester City in the league and overcome them on penalties in the Community Shield, there is no reason, beyond perhaps a collective lack of European experience, why they should not be considered serious challengers on their return to the competition. The Premier League leaders could do with sorting out the goalkeeping situation and perhaps lack a really top-class finisher but those are quibbles, the sort of problems most sides in Europe would dream of having.
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