Yes we can. That’s how La Gazzetta dello Sport welcomed the draw for the Champions League knockout stages in December.   No other country had as many representatives in the last 16 and Serie A had reason to be cautiously optimistic.   At the time, there was a good feeling about AC Milan playing Arsenal. True, in 2008, they had been eliminated by the Gunners, but now there was cause to believe things would be different.   The goalscorers from that encounter, Cesc Fábregas and Emmanuel Adebayor, were gone, while Arsenal’s 7-1 defeat to Manchester United in August left many across Europe with the impression that they no longer posed the same threat as before.   Milan, by contrast, were riding high. They went…