Petr Cech’s overwhelming desire to remain in the Premier League and Arsene Wenger’s persuasiveness were the motivating factors in the Czech goalkeeper’s move to Arsenal.

Given the consensus that the business end of the Champions League only kicks off when the competition reaches its knockout stage, there has always been an unavoidable element of phoney war about what UEFA calls ‘Matchday 1’.

Bayern Munich have won the 2012/13 Champions League after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley.