Arsenal and the Champions League should be a marriage made in heaven but Arsene Wenger's side have failed

It’s a bit of a myth that Arsene Wenger never splashes the cash. At £42.5million, Mesut Ozil is the third-most expensive player currently in the Premier League behind Manchester City’s summer signings Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, while £30m Alexis Sanchez also ranks in the top 10.

The belated spending spree from Wenger was meant to transform Arsenal from Champions League pretenders into genuine challengers and end the Frenchman’s record of having reached just one final in almost two decades at the club.

But the 2-1 defeat by Dynamo Zagreb in their opening group game a fortnight ago suggests the Gunners are still nowhere near reaching the levels in Europe they should be capable of. Tuesday night’s home game against Olympiacos of Greece is already a must-win with old enemies Bayern Munich still to come.

Arsene Wenger oversees Arsenal’s training session on Monday ahead of their clash with Olympiacos

In £42.5million signing Mesut Ozil, Wenger has the third-most expensive player currently in the Premier League

Arsenal are looking to kick-start their Champions League bid after losing their opener 2-1 at Dinamo Zagreb

Wenger cuts a frustrated figure during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat away at Dinamo Zagreb earlier this month

Arsenal players look on dejected after falling 2-0 behind on their way to a 2-1 loss at the Maksimir Stadium

The reality is that Arsenal should be involved in the shake-up for Europe’s biggest prize. On and off the pitch, they are set up for it. If they fail again, questions will be asked if Wenger himself is the missing link.

Between them, Ozil and Sanchez cost more than the entire Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos squads put together. They are supplemented by a second member of Germany’s World Cup-winning squad, Per Mertesacker, England internationals Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and they also have Aaron Ramsey, whose influence is second only to Gareth Bale as Wales rise up the world rankings.

Petr Cech is considered a world-class goalkeeper, Santi Carzola has won more than 50 caps for Spain and triumphed at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. You could go on and on…

Arsenal’s style, tiki-taka passing and devastating counter-attacks, should be tailor-made for Europe. And yet when it comes to the tight moments, they always lose out. Monaco knocked them out at the last-16 stage last season, the second time in three seasons Arsenal have exited on away goals.

The Gunners will hope that £30m forward Alexis Sanchez can fire them to glory at the Emirates Stadium

In Petr Cech, the north London outfit have a world-class goalkeeper as their last line of defence

Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla (right) has won more than 50 international caps for his country 

As Wenger passed his 19th anniversary this week, he must reflect on the 2006 final against Barcelona and wonder if that is as close as he’ll ever get. He has even used the word ‘realistic’ to dampen expectations of emulating the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez in winning the Champions League.

‘It’s a massive wake-up call for us and it means that the rest of European football has caught up with us,’ he said after last season’s exit which left the Premier League without a representative in the quarter-finals.

‘Straight through the spine of the team, they need three big-hitters,’ stated former Liverpool and England star Steven Gerrard after watching Arsenal’s horror show in Croatia a fortnight ago.

Yet, it shouldn’t be like that. Like Zagreb, Olympiacos should be a stroll for Arsenal. Their big deadline-day signing, Brown Ideye from West Brom, wouldn’t get into the Arsenal reserve side, and that’s with the limited number of strikers Wenger has on his books.

Arsenal captain Thierry Henry (left) cuts a dejected figure as Arsenal let slip the 2006 Champions League final

Former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov celebrates scoring against Arsenal for Monaco last season

Ozil and Sanchez have shown Arsenal is attractive to any player in the world, maybe only Real Madrid and Barcelona have more pulling power.

They are in London for kick-off, a magnet for overseas players. They have the biggest club stadium in the capital by far which allows them to compete in terms of transfer fees and wages should Wenger choose to pay them (he normally doesn’t).

Arsenal and the Champions League should be a marriage made in heaven. It still could be – but they simply must beat Olympiacos to get the ball rolling. 

SIX GREAT ARSENAL LET-DOWNS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 

2006 – Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal (Final)

This was meant to be Arsene Wenger’s big moment, the ultimate reward for a decade of brilliance at Arsenal. It was also the last hurrah for the Invincibles team, though Patrick Vieira had left by then, Jens Lehmann, Ashley Cole, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and the others remained.

Yet their dreams turned to dust when Lehmann was sent off after 18 minutes for fouling Samuel Eto’o – the first red card in a Champions League final.

Sol Campbell gave Arsenal an unlikely lead after 37 minutes but Barcelona are the last team you want to play against with a numerical disadvantage. Former Celtic star Henrik Larsson set up Eto’o after 76 minutes for the equaliser, and then defender Juliano Belletti five minutes later. Wenger has never been so close since.

2008 – Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal (second leg, quarter-final)

Arsenal finished seven points ahead of Liverpool that season in the Premier League but in a full-blooded cup tie over two legs, they were found wanting.

A 1-1 draw at the Emirates in the first game handed the advantage to Rafa Benitez’s European specialists. Wenger had the better squad at his disposal and were heading through on away goals with four minutes left, with the match tied at 2-2.

Then, Kolo Toure fouled Ryan Babel and Steve Gerrard scored from the spot. With Arsenal pressing, Ryan Babel then scored a breakaway fourth. It was the third semi-final for Benitez in four seasons; Wenger hasn’t been there since 2009.

2012 – AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal (first leg, last 16)

A symbol of how far Arsenal had fallen since the days of Vieira and Henry. Trophyless for seven years by that stage, the gulf in class between them and a far-from-vintage Milan side was embarrassing.

Manchester City reject Robinho scored twice after a Kevin-Prince Boateng opener and a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty put the tie beyond doubt. Of course, Arsenal rallied as they often do in the second leg and won 3-0. But they went out so it was pointless.

2013 – Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich (first leg, last 16)

Bayern did go on to win the Champions League this year but it was the way Arsenal surrendered on home soil that proved so dispiriting to Gunners fans.

Defensive naivety allowed Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller to put the Germans 2-0 ahead. Lukas Podolski pulled a goal back but Arsenal just didn’t have the belief to build momentum and conceded an untidy third to Mario Mandzukic.

They did go to Munich and win 2-0 but were out on away goals and watched as Bayern went all the way, winning the trophy at Wembley.

2014 – Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich (first leg, last 16)

Pep Guardiola was in his first season as Bayern manager. Wenger had hoped the signing of Ozil would take his side to a new level but that proved misguided as the German international missed a crucial penalty at 0-0.

It proved decisive, as did the later sending-off of Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Bayern made the extra man count with Kroos and Muller scoring just as they had done 12 months earlier.

Guardiola’s side closed out the tie with a 1-1 draw in Munich to go through 3-1 on aggregate.

2015 – Arsenal 1-3 Monaco (first leg, last 16)

Arsenal fans were delighted when they appeared to get the easiest draw possible in the knockout stages. How wrong they were.

Former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov put Monaco into a 2-0 lead at the Emirates and Arsenal then committed defensive suicide after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had pulled a goal back late on, conceding a third in injury-time.

Wenger’s men went to the principality and won 2-0 but the damage had already been done and they were out on away goals, again. The quote from the languid Berbatov that his side had ‘wanted it more’ must have hurt Wenger even more.