On Thursday night, at the strange and unfamiliar time of 8:05 p.m. BST, Arsenal's demotion on the European stage will become reality when they kick off their opening game of the Europa League group stage at home to FC Koln.
The last time Arsenal played at this level at the outset of a season, Arsene Wenger hadn't yet won his first trophy at Highbury and Reiss Nelson, a player generating great expectation ahead of his likely arrival on the continental scene, hadn't been born. One has to go all the way back to Sept. 30, 1997, in fact.