Jamie Carragher feels Arsenal are minnows on the European stage, and will be until they finally end their Champions League wait.
Arsenal face holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on Saturday.
The Gunners have played more matches in the competition (225) without winning the trophy, but come into the final having ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
Arsenal have enjoyed plenty of success domestically, but they have only won two European titles: the 1993-94 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
And former Liverpool defender Carragher feels that unless the Gunners prove they can get over the line in continental competition, they will never be viewed as among the European heavyweights.
"For a club of Arsenal's standing, possessing only two European trophies in nearly 140 years is embarrassing, especially given some of the extraordinary players and managers who have defined an otherwise rich history," Carragher wrote in The Telegraph.
"Achievements at home, regardless of how unprecedented or dominant, carry less weight if they are not elevated by European glory.
"No club can join the pantheon of Europe's footballing legends without the greatest prize.
"Arsenal are a giant of English football, but they remain European minnows until they win the Champions League."
Final yards before the final pic.twitter.com/bfytIsE2SG
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 29, 2026
This will be Arsenal’s 63rd and final game of 2025-26, more than any team from the top five European leagues this season.
It is also Arsenal's most for 46 years, when they played a club-record 70 matches in the 1979-80 campaign.
The Gunners are looking to become the fourth English club to win the top flight and European Cup/Champions League in the same season, along with Liverpool (1976-77, 1983-84), Manchester United (1998-99, 2007-08) and Manchester City (2022-23).
Arsenal have lost their last four major European finals: the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup (1-2 a.e.t. v Real Zaragoza), the 2000 UEFA Cup (0-0 a.e.t., 1-4 pens v Galatasaray), the 2006 Champions League (1-2 v Barcelona), and the 2019 Europa League (1-4 v Chelsea).
Since 2020, meanwhile, PSG have reached the Champions League final more times than any other club, appearing in three editions, thrashing Inter last year after losing to Bayern Munich six years ago.
"Saturday's opponents, PSG, are the most recent example of how a club is elevated after a European triumph," Carragher added.
"Until Luis Enrique's victory last year, PSG had to accept the constant criticism that they were big fish in the smaller pond of French football.
"Arsenal's best chance of victory, however, is to be the best version of Arsenal they can be. Trying to match PSG's style will fail."