Gary Lineker Questions Arsenal's Superstar Status for Champions League

Gary Lineker has nailed his colours to the mast for this season’s Champions League – and he’s not quite ready to put Arsenal’s name on the trophy.

Arsenal have been climbing the European ladder year on year. Three seasons of steady progress, capped by last season’s run all the way to the final, have shifted expectations around the club. They stood 90 minutes from glory before PSG prised the trophy from their grasp, underlining the French side’s status as the dominant force of the moment with back‑to‑back titles.

That defeat still stings in north London. It also frames the question that will follow Mikel Arteta’s side all season: can this team turn admirable progress into a defining European triumph?

“One of the favourites” – but missing something

Lineker, speaking to Mirror Football, accepts that Arsenal now belong in the conversation.

“Arsenal will be one of the favourites,” he said, before quickly drawing a line. “But I don't think overall they've got quite the superstars that some of the other big guns in Europe have.”

That is the crux of his scepticism. Arteta has built a collective – a well-drilled, aggressive, technically polished team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone over 90 minutes. Lineker’s concern lies not in the structure, but in the stardust. When the competition thins out and the pressure hits boiling point in April and May, he wonders whether Arsenal possess the same level of individual, game-breaking talent that has so often decided Champions League nights.

Lineker isn’t dismissing them. Far from it. His view underlines how far Arsenal have come: they are now judged against the absolute elite, not just as plucky outsiders. Yet in his eyes, they still sit half a rung below the true superclub model, where multiple global stars tilt the balance in tight knockout ties.

PSG revenge on the horizon?

Beating PSG again is not Arsenal’s stated obsession – the aim is clear and simple: win the Champions League. But the French champions remain a looming obstacle, and any rematch in the knockout rounds would crackle with narrative.

Arsenal pushed their way through the field last season and then ran into a side that has turned winning this competition into a habit. PSG’s back-to-back triumphs have given them the aura Arsenal are chasing. If the draw throws them together again, the Gunners will not need reminding what is at stake. Revenge for the final. A chance to knock over the current benchmark. Proof that last season’s run was a step on a journey, not the peak.

They have the tools to make that kind of statement. A settled core, a coach with a clear idea, and a group that has already felt the heat of a Champions League final. Lineker accepts the quality is there to compete. His question is whether anyone in red and white can seize a semi-final or final by the throat in the way the game’s most luminous names so often do.

Barcelona back in the frame

Just as Arsenal’s stock has risen, another giant is being nudged back into the spotlight in Lineker’s eyes: Barcelona.

“I do think Barcelona might be quite tasty and take some beating this season now they've got Rodri in there as well in that crucial position,” he added.

That single detail tells you where he believes the balance of power could shift. A midfielder of Rodri’s calibre, anchoring Barcelona in that pivotal role, changes their ceiling. Control, tempo, security – the very things that define modern Champions League winners – suddenly look more attainable at the Camp Nou.

For Arsenal, that means the road to the trophy does not just run past PSG. It may also run through a resurgent Barcelona, armed with a player who has become the reference point for his position.

Ambition vs. aura

Arsenal will not tiptoe into this campaign. After reaching the final, anything less than another deep run would feel like a step back. The squad has grown, the belief has hardened, and the club now speaks openly about challenging the continent’s best.

Lineker’s verdict slices through the optimism with a sharper edge. He sees a side with enough quality to frighten anyone, but not yet the sheer superstar aura that often separates winners from nearly men on Europe’s biggest nights.

Arsenal have the platform, the pain of last season’s final, and a clear route to go one better. The question that hangs over them now is simple: can a finely tuned collective, still light on global icons, finally break the grip of Europe’s superclubs and carry that trophy back to north London?