Arsenal are ‘one of the candidates’ to win the Champions League this season, but remain behind three other clubs in the running, according to a back-to-back finalist in the competition.

The Gunners are full of confidence at the moment after surging to the top of the Premier League table and winning their opening two Champions League fixtures of the campaign.

Mikel Arteta is under some pressure to turn a string of near misses into trophies this season, be it in England’s top flight or at Europe’s top table.

Arsenal comfortably beat PSV and Real Madrid in the knockout stages last season before losing out to PSG in the semis, with the French team going on to batter Inter Milan in the final.

Gaizka Mendieta, who captained Valencia in the 2001 and ’01 Champions League finals, still sees PSG ahead of Arsenal, while he also reckons Spanish giants Real and Barcelona have a better chance of lifting the trophy.

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