Arsenal can win the Champions League this season, right?

Well lets kick proceedings off by saying at the start, there should be no limit to Arsenal's ambition. They are the perennial Champions League side, having reached the group stages for the 15th year in succession under Arsene Wenger's guidance.

The closest they got to winning the trophy was in 2006, where they were beaten in Paris by Barcelona, who proceeded to knock them out in two later seasons.

Last year they predictably cruised through the group stages before falling apart against AC Milan. Yet they got so close to mounting a comeback, winning the second leg on the night 3-0.

It was a show of what they were capable of, meaning Milan joined Barcelona in teams to suffer defeats at the Emirates in successive seasons.

The problem of course was their away form, but with a new-found defensive resilience, you wonder if they may have just found a solution for that.

All the hype about Steve Bould's influence on the club's rearguard has been well-deserved. The club have conceded just one in four games, that a consolation at the weekend against Southampton.

Sterner tests await, namely against Manchester City on Sunday, but tonight's match against French champions Montpellier will also offer a tough challenge, with playmaker Younes Belhanda offering unpredictability in attack for the home side.

His partner in crime from last season has since departed, and Olivier Giroud now wears Arsenal colours. Perhaps it is fate the striker will score his first against his former club tonight.

Looking at the wider picture, regardless of what happens tonight, Arsenal are expected to qualify from their group, which contains Schalke, and now regular opponents Olympiakos, too shorn of last season's top scorer Kevin Mirallas.

The Gunners will expect to pick up nine points out of nine at home, and at least a couple of wins away, starting tonight. It would put them in pole position to go through as group winners and in theory, secure them an 'easier' draw.

It didn't work out that way last year, as they drew AC Milan, who finished runners-up to Barcelona in their group, and like any year, the route of the Champions League is dictated by the draw.

But as Chelsea showed last year, anything really can happen. If Arsenal can get through, and avoid the big guns in the last 16, they have a good chance of building momentum and belief they can challenge.

They of course finished three places above Chelsea in the Premier League last season, yet still have to suffer taunts about finishing trophyless while the current European Champions across the city live it up.

Arsenal seem to have a determined edge about them this year, and importantly have experience meshed with talent in their attack and defence. Players like Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker have performed on the biggest stage in World Cups, with the former especially likely to shine.

Santi Cazorla also brings Champions League experience, he made 10 appearances with Villareal in the competition, and will feel this competition is his big shot to make an impression on the Spanish national coach.

Arsenal are determined to win silverware this season, and why not this one? It is after all a cup competition, which offers real unpredictability, even if the only reliable fact is that Lionel Messi will finish top scorer (four years in succession now). But he has off-days, as we saw last season against Chelsea with his crucial missed penalty.

So with a sterner defence, a more balanced squad, and a determination to shine and prove a point, whisper it quietly but this could be Arsenal's year. Even if they make this prediction look foolish by losing 3-0 at Montpellier tonight, there will still be five games from which to bounce back from such a character-building defeat.

And this is not to say they will win the Champions League, there are around six or seven teams who could more rightly be considered among the favourites, but what we are saying is that there is no reason to rule the Gunners out at this early stage when they have so much going for them. Right now they have as good a chance as any, as realising European football's ultimate dream.

If Chelsea can do it, Arsenal will certainly feel they can lift the trophy too.

What do you think, can Arsenal win the Champions League this season?  

image: © wonker