Former Arsenal man, Frank McLintock, has predicted that Arsenal will be knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Barcelona currently sit at the top of La Liga by three points and are in amazing form with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez firing on all cylinders. Therefore, Arsenal have the right to be a little nervous going into our match against the Catalan giants.

However, McLintock doesn’t believe getting knocked out by Barca will be a bad thing.

“It’s very likely Arsenal will go out of the Champions League against Barcelona,” he said to Talk Sport.

“I’m not trying to put the blockers on, but Barca are an unbelievable side. We might make it tough for them but I’d be very surprised if we come through against them.

“But that could be a blessing in disguise in some ways, as they can just concentrate on winning the Premier League.”

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Arsenal footballers Ray Kennedy, Frank McClintock, (captain) and John Radford celebrating in the changing room after Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Original Publication: People Disc – HP0267 (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)

I actually agree. While I would love us to win the Champions League, there are so many strong teams that if we did indeed beat Barca, I don’t see us going the whole way. That’s not me being pessimistic, I just don’t see it. Would a decent run in Europe be good? Sure. But in my opinion, concentrating on the League and FA Cup would be a far more sensible option. That’s not to say that I don’t want us to take our ties with the La Liga team seriously, I just hope we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.