Gary Lineker Questions Arsenal’s Star Power in Champions League
Gary Lineker has nailed his colours to the mast for this season’s Champions League – and he’s not quite ready to put Arsenal’s name on the trophy.
The former England striker believes Mikel Arteta’s side will be among the contenders, but questions whether they carry the same individual star power as Europe’s heaviest hitters.
Arsenal’s rise in Europe has been steady and serious. Three seasons of progress, capped by last year’s run to the final, have dragged the club back into the conversation with the elite. They went all the way to the showpiece, only to be beaten by a ruthless PSG side that has turned the competition into its own private territory with back-to-back titles.
That defeat still stings in north London. It also frames the challenge ahead.
Arsenal’s revenge mission meets Lineker’s realism
PSG remain the benchmark. If the draw throws them together again in the knockouts, Arsenal will have a chance to settle a score and prove they belong on that stage not just as plucky finalists, but as champions-in-waiting. Arteta has built a squad that can go toe-to-toe with anyone over 90 minutes.
Lineker accepts that. He just isn’t convinced they have the kind of headline acts that define Champions League winners.
“Arsenal will be one of the favourites,” he said, speaking to Mirror Football, “but I don't think overall they've got quite the superstars that some of the other big guns in Europe have. I do think Barcelona might be quite tasty and take some beating this season now they've got Rodri in there as well in that crucial position.”
It’s a pointed comparison. Arsenal, in his eyes, are a superb collective; Barcelona, with Rodri anchoring midfield, look like a side built around a true global reference point in a key area of the pitch.
Heavy traffic at the top of Europe
The Gunners head into this campaign with momentum and scars in equal measure. Last season proved they can navigate the competition’s demands, handle the pressure of knockout football and live with the tactical nuance of Europe’s best. What they haven’t proved yet is that they can finish the job.
PSG still loom over the bracket as the team to beat. Their recent dominance means any route to the trophy may well pass through the French champions, and Arsenal would not be short of motivation if that rematch materialised.
Yet Lineker’s eye is also drawn to Barcelona. With Rodri now installed in that “crucial position” at the heart of their midfield, he sees a side capable of dictating games at the highest level and grinding opponents down over two legs. For a tournament often decided by small margins and big moments, that kind of control matters.
Arsenal, by contrast, are being judged on whether their depth of quality can compensate for a perceived lack of true megastars. They have match-winners, they have structure, they have a clear identity. What Lineker questions is whether, when the competition reaches its brutal final stages, they will have enough individual brilliance to tilt a semi-final or final on a single moment.
The ambition inside the club is clear: after falling one step short, anything less than going one better will feel like a missed opportunity. The outside view, from voices like Lineker’s, is just as clear.
Arsenal are good enough to challenge. The coming months will show whether that’s enough to tear the trophy away from Europe’s “big guns” – or whether the Champions League still belongs to the teams built around the kind of superstars Lineker says they lack.
