Time, perhaps, for a more statesmanlike image as the new captain of Sweden, and also the longest-serving player at Arsenal. Only Ljungberg, 29, can remember his club's first hesitant steps in the Champions' League eight years ago, a far cry from the near-miss in Paris last May.

The sad thing for Ljungberg, if not his younger colleagues taking on Porto at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, is that they may never have a better chance of becoming champions of Europe as that defeat to Barcelona. Not that he can admit it. "It was almost like a mental block that we couldn't get past the quarter-final and when we did I felt there was such a belief in the team that I thought we were going to do it. I'm still a bit upset about the offside goal they equalised with but hopefully it will make us stronger, and come back and win it."

The immediate prospects, after winning the opening group game in Hamburg 2-1 . . .

with Porto and CSKA Moscow coming up . . . are solid enough: "They're all good sides and we respect them but I think we're good enough to go through. In Hamburg they had the sending off and we got the penalty so it was a good start and now we have to build on it against Porto."

Although signed in time for the first of Arsene Wenger's eight previous European Cup campaigns, Ljungberg was ineligible because he had played for his Swedish club Halmstads in qualifying. So he sat and shared the frustration of 73,000 at Wembley, where the occasion always seemed to inspire visiting teams more than the home side . . . in two years there they won only two from six.

Returned to Highbury, they proved unbeaten in 12.

Now the worry may be that the fine new Emirates ground will also suit opponents as much as Arsenal, who struggled to impose themselves in Premiership matches while adjusting to their new surroundings and a bigger pitch.

Twelve metres longer and nine wider than Highbury, the playing surface is almost 30 per cent larger overall.

Ljungberg says of the early home games: "We came in for some criticism but at the same time we're playing quite well. Teams wanted to drop back and defend but then they scored and we were struggling because they were all in their own box. But we'll learn from it. It's a new stadium with a big pitch; maybe we can't go at teams quite the same way as at Highbury because we get tired, so maybe we need to be more patient. I hope it was just a slip-up. Personally I love the Emirates because you can go at players a bit more. At Highbury, they could always double-mark you because the pitch was so narrow."

He should also be granted his wish to exploit that space by playing in a wide position rather than centrally, as was often the case last season.

Arsenal have lost two wide boys in Robert Pires and Jose Antonio Reyes and gained a central one in Tomas Rosicky.

"I'm very happy he joined and he's a very good player. When you sign a player from another country you need to give them time to adapt a bit to a physical game but he's looking good. I remember when I came, it was very physical and I'd think 'why didn't I get a free-kick there, what's happening?' But you have to be strong and accept how it is over here. Now Jose Antonio has gone I'll probably play a bit more wide. It depends what the boss wants to do. I like to play on the left so I can move inside more, a bit more like a playmaker than just running round on the wing, but it's okay."

When Wenger reverts to a 4-5-1 formation for occasional away games, there is room for Rosicky in the middle alongside Gilberto Silva, the oldest outfield player, and Cesc Fabregas, the youngest, leaving the improved Alexander Hleb and Ljungberg on the flanks. That was the lineup for the win at Old Trafford last Sunday that suggested Arsenal can still provide the best challenge to Chelsea. For a home game like Tuesday's, however, they may be better offering full-time support to Thierry Henry in either Emmanuel Adebayor or Robin van Persie.

Not since Sven Goran Eriksson's Benfica outplayed George Graham's champions 3-1 at Highbury in 1991 have Arsenal encountered Portugese opposition. Porto, European champions under Jose Mourinho three seasons ago, are nothing like the force they were. They have started well domestically, topping the table early on under their fifth coach in two years, but might have been expected to do better than a goalless draw at home to CSKA in the opening Champions' League group match. Finding another Mourinho, as Chelsea will one day discover, is not easy.