Arsenal's home stadium, 'The Emirates'.

Libby Hooper

With a hugely anticipated return to the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal continue to defy expectations, storming their group and securing qualification to the knockout stages in style with a game to spare. 

Bright Beginnings?

Arsenal started their UEFA Champions League campaign exceptionally strong with a 4-0 thrashing of PSV – a dream return to the tournament for the Gunners. Securing a comfortable lead, the team could tactically rest key players – wary of their coming league games (including the infamously heated North London Derby). After the match, Norwegian captain Martin Ødegaard cited their strong performance as a ‘solid start’ to the European competition, kicking off the tournament with results they intended to continue producing. 

However, to the fans’ concern, Arsenal suffered a worrisome loss in their second game of the UCL group stages against RC Lens. Despite scoring within the first fifteen minutes of the game, the Gunners lost 2-1 to the French side, who were playing at home for the first time in the Champion’s League since the 2002/03 UCL campaign. This contributed to Arsenal’s shock loss, with coach Mikel Arteta, in his post-match reflection, noting the ‘exceptional atmosphere’ at the Estadio Bollaert-Delelis, putting the Gunners under further mental pressure against an impressively strong side. 

This loss, however, did not set the tone for the rest of Arsenal’s emphatic return to the competition. Moving forward, Arteta’s men saw successive victories in their next two matches against Sevilla, winning 2-1 away and 2-0 at home. By Matchday 4, the Gunners had won three out of four of their Group B fixtures, seeing them at the top of the group, continuing to dominate and earning valuable points as the group stage progressed. 

Securing Qualification in Style 

The North London club had their place in the next round of the tournament confirmed during their home game against Lens, giving an electric response to their initial beating. To the joy of fans, Arsenal secured qualification to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League in a six-goal thriller. Opening the scoreline within the first fifteen minutes was Chelsea transfer Kai Havertz, with this lead doubling soon after by former Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.

“Arsenal made history”

With this goal, Jesus historically became the first player to score in all four of his first UCL appearances for an English club. Goals began trickling in for the Gunners. Scoring three more goals in the first half, shots from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and captain Martin Ødegaard successfully hit the back of the net. 

Scoring five goals before half-time, Arsenal made history as the first side in the UEFA Champions League to have five different scorers (excluding own goals)  in the first half of a UCL match. To round off their stellar performance, Italian international Jorginho scored a penalty for the Gunners in the game’s dying minutes. With the full-time whistle, Arsenal’s 6-0 victory and their spot in the knockout stages were confirmed, complete with a game in hand. 

“A team to be feared”

Following this electric performance, former Arsenal player Paul Merson has named the club a team to be feared in the Champion’s League knockout stages, being ‘big players’ in the European tournament who’ no one will want to play’. Also securing qualification before the end of the group stages, Arsenal will be accompanied into the knockout rounds by a host of European heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan. 

A Season of Success?

This standard of play for Arsenal is not exclusive to their European performances, with the Gunners excelling domestically, topping the Premier League table ahead of successive title-holders Manchester City.

“it appears as though this Arsenal team is simply unstoppable”

So far this 2023/24 Premier League season, Arsenal have exhibited phenomenal form both home and away and impressive team management amidst the injuries of important players. With this depth and quality, it appears this Arsenal team is simply unstoppable. With superb performances in Europe and domestically, this Arsenal squad seems set to have a season of success, while Arsenal supporters will inevitably have a season of nerves.

Though Arsenal have exceeded expectations so far, the season is still young, so the question remains – can this team keep their success up?

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Featured image courtesy of Nelson Ndongala on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Animal lover, football enthusiast, and Sociology student at the University of Cambridge.

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