Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist

It’s been a case of so near, yet so far for Arsenal in recent years, both domestically and in the Champions League. The Gunners reached the semi-final last season, losing to eventual winners Paris St. Germain 3-1 on aggregate. This was after beating 15-time European champions Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-final.

In 2023-24, Arsenal marked their long-awaited return to the Champions League after a seven-year absence, only to fall at the quarter-final stage. Mikel Arteta’s side were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich, bringing their first campaign in the competition since Arsene Wenger’s 2016-17 team to a frustrating end.

Could this be the season where Arsenal finally win the Champions League?

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Arsenal have enjoyed another strong start to the season.

In the Premier League they have won four, drawn one and lost one of their six games, leaving them second in the table and just two points behind leaders Liverpool.

They have scored the joint-second most goals (12) and conceded the joint-fewest (three).

In the Champions League, Mikel Arteta's side have beaten both Athletic Club and Olympiacos 2-0, though tougher tests await them.

Oh, and they beat Port Vale 2-0 in the League Cup as well.

Matt Upson
Former England defender on BBC's Football Daily

It's almost like it's a given (Arsenal's defensive prowess), and it isn't. I think it takes a lot of work, and the players are stepping up as we know that they can.

William Saliba signing a new deal, the options they have at full-back positions - Ricardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly battling it out, Ben White and Jurrien Timber, I think they have got great competition.

The two centre-backs are so well drilled, and they are the real cornerstones of the team.

Arsenal fans - is this the season you finally end your Premier League drought, or even go all the way in the Champions League?

Get in touch and let us know what you think Mikel Arteta's side can achieve this season.

If you can't be optimistic after a comfortable home win in the Champions League, then when can you be??

Carl Jenkinson
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

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I went with the old man, and it’s fair to say we were very frustrated in the first half with a lot of the chances we didn’t put away, so we made hard work of it, but ultimately it was just about getting the win, which we did.

I think players like Martin Odegaard, when you have players with that much quality who can pick passes like he can - and there aren’t many who can - I think you rightly give them the freedom to essentially do what they want, when they have the ball.

Obviously, he’s still got to be within the structure of the team, but when he’s on the ball, when he can play passes like he can and when he has the vision that he has, just let him do his thing.

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Martin Odegaard made his first start since returning from a shoulder injury, and he produced an excellent player-of-the-match performance.

The Arsenal skipper created more chances (four), won possession more times (eight) and made more passes (65) than any other Arsenal player on the pitch.

He provided several killer passes for striker Viktor Gyokeres, who on another day would have converted at least two of them into goals.

Arsenal look so much more dangerous when Odegaard is fit and in form.

Matt Upson
Former England defender on BBC's Football Daily

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The one that does jump out to me is Martinelli. The reaction he has had from signing Eze, Madueke coming in, he looks like he is hungry to prove himself this season.

When you bring these players in, you expect great things from them, but actually, you can end up getting more from the ones you already have. He knows he has to fight and scrap really hard for a position in the team at the moment because the competition is really high.

Right, we're going to switch our attention to Arsenal for a bit.

The Gunners continued their strong start to the Champions League with a 2-0 home win against Greek side Olympiacos.

Gabriel Martinelli reacted quickest when Viktor Gyokeres' effort rebounded off the post following a touch from the goalkeeper, before Bukayo Saka secured the three points late on.

That's two wins from two for Mikel Arteta's side, and two clean sheets.

Chris Sutton
Former Premier League Striker on BBC's Football Daily

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Why is he playing him (Bernardo Silva) out wide? For the life of me, I don't know why Pep took Jeremy Doku off and put Bernardo Silva on. I am not saying he is a liability out there, but he doesn't have the ability to go past a full-back. That's a massive problem.

All the good stuff came on the left-hand side or Foden on the half-turn. Foden was superb in the first half, but that right-hand side - you've got John Stones, wonderful player as a centre-back, and Bernardo Silva. They are not dynamic anymore; they aren't at the top of their game.

I think there is a problem for Manchester City, and I don't know why he kept him on but I think that was ridiculous.

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that last night's draw with Monaco marked a year to the day since Manchester City's last away win in the Champions League.

Since beating Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in Slovakia on 1 October 2024, City have gone five games without victory on the continent.

Is that necessarily a bad thing though?

Cast your minds back to 2022-23, when City drew five away games in a row on their way to winning the competition and completing the treble.

Matt Upson
Former England defender on BBC's Football Daily

It was a very assured performance. I thought they were very much in control, looked comfortable, relaxed, playing good football. Monaco always had that threat; you always felt that they were capable. It was always on that kind of edge, but they needed that third goal.

It was a good away performance in terms of how they went about the game and the control, but they just didn't have the finish. In this level of football and in the Champions League, it doesn't matter where you are; the standard is so good that you will be caught out at some point.

Alex Brotherton
BBC Sport journalist

It depends on how you define 'well'.

Manchester City look a much more cohesive team than they did last season, while team chemistry and squad unity look much better too.

In attack Erling Haaland and Phil Foden look back to their best, while Jeremy Doku is performing like the player City thought they were getting when he arrived in 2023.

City have looked more organised and resilient in defence recently too, perhaps linked to the return to fitness of Josko Gvardiol and the arrival of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

But are City ready to dominate and control games like they did in the second half of their treble-winning campaign of 2022-23?

No - but that may be partly by design as Pep Guardiola builds a more direct and transitional team.

Nedum Onuoha
Former Manchester City defender on MOTD: UEFA Champions League

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It was a disappointing result but one of the positives for City was Phil Foden's performance, and he has been playing well since he came into the team for the Manchester derby.

Foden has been important in terms of trying to unlock some of the tough defences City have faced, and he made a big difference against Monaco too.

It felt like a lot of the chances City created came through him and, although he has not assisted Haaland with either of his goals, a lot of their creativity came through him.

Any time they could find him in pockets of space, his ability to get on the ball on the half-turn to look for the right pass meant he could create something against what was a dogged defence. It was really impressiv

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola took a dim view of the decision to award Monaco a late penalty.

"Unfortunately at the end we defend an unfair free-kick not perfectly and we concede a penalty [despite Nico Gonzalez] touching the ball first," Guardiola told TNT Sports.

"[He] touches the opponent but touches the ball, no intention. It's what it is."

When asked to clarify if he didn't think it was a penalty, Guardiola said: "I don't know."

Asked during his post-match media conference whether he spoke to referee Jesus Gill Manzano, Guardiola said: "Nothing. I have nothing to say to the Spanish referees."

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This season Manchester City have dropped three points in the Premier League after conceding in the 89th minute or later.

Had they not done so, then Pep Guardiola' side would be level on points with second-placed Arsenal in the Premier League, while in the Champions League they would have six points from two games.

By drawing in Monaco, City have now failed to win any of their past five away matches in Europe.

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Manchester City left Monaco frustrated after surrendering two points late on, but one huge positive to take away is the goal-scoring antics of Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian striker scored either side of half-time to take his tally for the season to 11 goals in eight games in all competitions, his second best start to a season in a City shirt.

He has failed to score in just one of his eight appearances this season.

Haaland's goals after eight games in each of his seasons at City:

2022-23: 12

2023-24: 7

2024-25: 10

2025-26: 11