Arsenal's line-up in their last UCL match as Arteta pushes for top four

The Gunners have closed the gap on fourth place Manchester United and now sit just two points off the Red Devils with three games in hand.

The north London club have not played in the competition since March 2017 when they were knocked out of the round-of-16 by Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

The Gunners were smashed 5-1 in each leg, meaning they were eliminated from the tournament with an embarrassing 10-2 loss on aggregate, with a red card for Laurent Koscielny adding insult to injury.

Off the pitch prior to the game, long-standing manager Arsene Wenger was under fire as a 'Wenger Out' protest went on outside the ground, and unluckily for the Frenchman, this fixture's result did not help his cause.

In fact, it was Arsenal's biggest home loss since November 1998 when they had lost 5-0 to Chelsea in the League Cup.

At the Emirates, Bayern Munich ran riot with Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal with a brace, getting the goals.

Since then, Arsenal have played in the Europa League three times and failed to qualify for Europe twice, finishing outside the top six in the last two seasons.

Now, though, the Gunners may be about to make a return - and it will be with a new-look team.

Just two players remain on Arsenal's books from the team that capitulated against Bayern, with only one of them actually playing for Arsenal still.

Granit Xhaka, who was in his first season at the club at the time, and on-loan right-back Hector Bellerin, just 21 at the time, started.

Also at the back were Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, with David Ospina between the sticks.

Olivier Giroud led the Arsenal attack, with Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott at his service on either side.

Walcott was the only goalscorer for the Gunners that day, with his strike - an opener on the night - eventually only serving as a consolation.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was in the middle of the park alongside Xhaka but went on to sign for Liverpool at the end of the campaign.

Aaron Ramsey, now at Rangers but on-loan from Juventus, was also in that midfield.

Now, though, Arteta's side have a youthful look as Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and others come to the fore.

Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette are showing their worth, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Aaron Ramsdale have been inspired signings to slip into defence along with Ben White, Gabriel, and Kieran Tierney.

Thomas Partey's wealth of Champions League experience will help them if they do qualify for the tournament too.

But chickens should be counted just yet - there is still a long way to go this season and we don't doubt there will be twists and turns.