Not since 2012 have Arsenal finished top of a Champions League group. It will soon be five attempts and five second-placed finishes, thanks to a 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain which ensures the French club need only to win at home to Ludogorets in the final round of games to come top of Group A.
Football empires have fallen in that time: Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund, Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich. Chelsea alone have had six different managers. But though the currents of change at the top of European football are forever shifting, Arsenal's determination to finish second in their group remains unmoved.