I, for one, am salivating at the prospect.

WITH the two legs against Pep Guardiola’s Barca, a side that’s widely perceived as the paradigm of the beautiful game, sandwiched between games against Leyton Orient, Stoke and Sunderland — not to mention the trifling matter of a trip to Wembley — I guess us Gooners are set to witness the entire wonderful panoply of the footballing spectrum over the coming weeks.

I, for one, am salivating at the prospect.

Despite the significance of our glamorous encounter with the Catalan giants — as the litmus test that will either provide le Gaffer with incontrovertible grounds to continue blowing the Gooner trumpet, or which could accentuate his obstinate obsession with blowing smoke up our backsides — the surrounding fixtures might not hold the same fascinating allure. But they’ll be no less demanding for all that.