Three familiar players who Arsenal will meet in the Champions League this season

Arsenal now know who they are set to play in the league phase of this season's Champions League and some of their clashes could bring about reunions with familiar faces.

The Gunners will take on Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Lille and Sabah at the Emirates Stadium while they have been dealt trips to Bayern Munich, Real Betis, Napoli and Slavia Prague.

Three of the clubs Mikel Arteta's side will face currently employ ex-Arsenal players and that could see them come up against their former club, as well as enjoy a reunion with the Spaniard, who played with all three of these players.

In arguably Arsenal's toughest fixture of the entire league phase, they will come up against former prospect Serge Gnabry, who could line up for Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The Germany international has already played the Gunners twice in the Champions League. He grabbed an assist in last season's 3-1 defeat at the Emirates and scored in a 2-2 draw in the 2023/24 campaign's quarter-finals.

He played eight times with Arteta during his time in North London before they both departed in 2016 as the Spaniard retired and Gnabry joined Werder Bremen.

Héctor Bellerín is set for his first official reunion with the club where he made his name as one of the most talented young right backs when Real Betis host Arsenal.

The Spaniard captained Heliopolitanos in a 3-1 friendly win over the Gunners in Dublin in this year's pre-season campaign.

The defender is the only player on this list to have played with and been managed by Arteta. He appeared alongside his fellow Barcelona graduate 12 times and played under him in a further 51 games.

Olivier Giroud has moved around a fair bit since leaving Arsenal, representing Chelsea, AC Milan and Los Angeles, but it will be with Lille that he faces his former side once again.

The France international has already played the Gunners five times, all coming during his time with the Blues, winning twice and losing three games. He famously scored in the 4-1 Europa League final victory over Arsenal in 2019, but was on the wrong end of revenge a year later when he and Chelsea lost the FA Cup final.

Arteta is very familiar with Giroud as the pair played together 95 times during their time in North London.

Gnabry, Bellerín and Giroud are not the only ex-Gunners who could be facing their former side in the Champions League, with two current squad members linked with moves to the opponents.

Napoli are interested in signing Gabriel Jesus, meaning the Brazilian may come up against Arsenal sooner than expected, while Ethan Nwaneri looks set to leave the club on loan and Borussia Dortmund are one of the clubs with his name on their list. UEFA regulations would allow the Hale End graduate to play against Arteta's side if he is on loan with the Black and Yellow.

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