Unlike their more revered opponents, Zurich have experienced a taste of Champions League football in the 2022-23 season, but Francoq Foda was unable to guide his side past Azerbaijan’s Qarabag in the second qualifying round as they fell to a 5-4 aggregate loss.
Dropping down to the second tier of continental competition, Zurich recovered to put five past Linfield over two legs before seeing off Hearts 3-1 on aggregate to book their place in the Europa League group stage for the fifth time in 11 years.
The 13-time Swiss champions bowed out at the group stage in each of the 2011-12, 2014-15 and 2016-17 editions, but they ended that hoodoo during their last outing in the secondary competition, going as far as the last-32 in 2018-19 before being eliminated by Napoli.
On a more sour note, FCZ have endured a bitterly disappointing start to the defence of their title in the Swiss Super League, as they are without a win from seven games in the new domestic season and have suffered three consecutive home defeats to Sion, Basel and Lugano.
Losing the highly-rated Wilfried Gnonto to Leeds United has not helped Zurich in that regard, but the 18-year-old had failed to fire in the 2022-23 Swiss Super League anyway, and recording a fifth-straight Europa League win will not be a cakewalk for the hosts.
From being regarded as favourites for the fourth and final Champions League spot – even being touted as dark horses for third by some – to another stint in the Europa League, Arsenal sure were handed a harsh reality check at the end of the 2021-22 season.
A fifth campaign in the second tier of European football now awaits the North London club, who were losing finalists in 2019, losing semi-finalists in 2018 and 2021, and the less said about their last-32 exit to Olympiacos in 2020 the better.
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Nevertheless, the Mikel Arteta philosophy has been paying dividends for the Gunners over the past few weeks, with Arsenal’s astute signings contributing to their new-found status as a pressing machine, but Manchester United brought them crashing back down to earth at the weekend.
Marcus Rashford and £85m man Antonyended Arsenal’s perfect start to the new Premier League season, but they still lead the way after six games, and the English giants head into
Thursday’s contest holding a 75% win rate from Europa League group-stage games – for teams who have participated in at least three editions of the tournament, only Zenit St Petersburg (79%) have fared better in that regard.
Thursday’s contest will mark the inaugural competitive meeting between Arsenal and Zurich, but the Gunners make the journey boasting a 100% success rate from previous games against Swiss teams – six wins from six – as the forgotten man Lucas Perez hit a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Basel during the 2016-17 Champions League.
