Arsenal's H2H record vs 2023/24 Champions League group stage opponents
- Arsenal qualified for the Champions League with a second-placed Premier League finish last season
- Mikel Arteta's first managerial campaign in Europe's premier club competition
- The Gunners go up against Sevilla, PSV and Lens in Group B
After an interminable six-year wait for Champions League football, Arsenal return to Europe's elite in a favourable Group B.
As Premier League runners-up, the Gunners were drawn from Pot 2 but avoided the hulking top-flight champions from other divisions that lurked in Pot 1. Sevilla's name was the first to be plucked out and stuffed into Group B. The Europa League winners lost their first three La Liga games of the season for the first time in their history this term and only finished 12th in 2023.
Both PSV Eindhoven and RC Lens came second in their respective divisions last season and complete a Champions League group devoid of league champions.
Arsenal's record vs 2023/24 Champions League group stage opponents
Opponent | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lens | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
PSV | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Sevilla | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Lens
Arsenal and Lens were familiar foes at the turn of the century, meeting in UEFA competition in two consecutive seasons.
Lens were one of the beneficiaries of the teething problems Arsenal endured while using Wembley Stadium for home fixtures in European competition. Mickael Debeve scored the only goal of a game on a filthy night in north London to knock Arsenal out of the 1998/99 Champions League group stages. Neither the squad players Arsene Wenger trusted nor the blue kit that they were wearing bore any resemblance to the Arsenal team which had won the league and cup double a few months earlier.
The French side forced a draw when Arsenal travelled to Lens' coal fields in 1998 but were beaten home and away by the Gunners a year later across both legs of the UEFA Cup semi-finals.
PSV
The Brazilian centre-back Alex would enjoy success against the Gunners with Chelsea but he introduced himself to Arsenal fans during his time at PSV. Twenty-five minutes after levelling the 2007 Champions League round-of-16 tie on aggregate with an own goal at the Emirates, Alex redeemed himself with a thumping header to send Arsene Wenger's side out of Europe.
Arsenal and PSV faced off as recently as last season's Europa League group stage. Both clubs earned home wins, extending PSV's wait for a victory against the Gunners on English soil. Arsenal, by comparison, thrashed Guus Hiddink's PSV 4-0 on their first trip to Eindhoven in 2002.
Sevilla
Arsenal and Sevilla have only met in official competition during one previous Champions League campaign. Just as this year, Sevilla entered the 2007/08 group stage as reigning Europa League (then under the guise of the UEFA Cup) champions.
Incredibly, the Andalusian outfit also have one survivor from that squad; Jesus Navas started both games against Arsenal 16 years ago and is Sevilla's captain this season.
When are the 2023/24 Champions League group stage matchdays?
Matchday | Date |
|---|---|
Matchday 1 | 19/20 September |
Matchday 2 | 3/4 October 2023 |
Matchday 3 | 24/25 October 2023 |
Matchday 4 | 7/8 November 2023 |
Matchday 5 | 28/29 November 2023 |
Matchday 6 | 12/13 December 2023 |
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