Arsenal given chance to draw first blood in CL shoot-out

A friend of mine believes that the Champions League has been damaging to us over the last few seasons. He thinks the imperative to finish in the top four has made failure to challenge for titles seem acceptable because as long as you make it to the fabled land of the Champions League you can’t really deem a season to be a failure. Or as Arsene Wenger would put it, fourth is as good as a trophy.
I understand my mate’s frustration but at the same time there is something to be said for the fact that an end of season game between a team that lies in third place, 17 points behind the top two, and a team that lies in 14th place, safely clear of the relegation zone, still feels so incredibly high s...