The three things Arsenal need to do this season to finally win the Champions League - from the players Mikel Arteta must learn to trust to the January transfer window plan and a returning hero

The Hilton Budapest had been primed, a function room already booked in advance for Arsenal’s staff and players after last season’s Champions League final.

But instead of a raucous party to mark a first European Cup in the club’s 140-year history, a few reflective, sorrows-drowning drinks followed before an early flight back to London for the Premier League title parade through the streets of north London.

The disappointment exuding from Mikel Arteta in the post-match press conference following the defeat on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain was marked. Ending a 22-year wait for a Premier League title had gone out the window, his words verged on anger.

‘Pain, that's it, when you are so close in the competition and you are a few penalty kicks away from winning the biggest football club competition, that's the way which you feel,’ he said.

After ending that long, agonising wait to be crowned champions of England, conquering Europe is Arteta's final frontier. The Spaniard has never tasted success in a European competition as a player or manager, and often uses the Champions League as a reference point in how legacies are defined.

Arsenal are well primed to make that final step. They were, after all, only a few kicks from glory in May, and have strengthened further this summer with additions such as Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis and Ezri Konsa. But how do they get over that final hurdle?