4. November 2003 and the 5-1 thrashing of Inter Milan in the San Siro – Such a result away in Italy was unheard of anywhere, but astonishing in Milan. Two from Henry, and one each from Robert Pires, Edu and Freddie Ljungberg on an incredible night to be a Gooner.
3. February 2006 in a game that every pundit and most fans had us down to lose, but courtesy of one Thierry Henry we became the first ever English side to win in the Bernabeu by the slender 1-0 margin. I for one made an exception and had booked tickets for the second leg to take my son on a school night. I have to admit that I was not optimistic and part of my allowing him at such a young age to go was because he would perhaps not see Beckham, Zidane and Ronaldo again. For me, how ever amazing the victory was in Madrid, the return leg at Highbury was certainly one of my favourite ever nights as a Gooner. How on earth did the match finish goalless. Undoubtedly the best match I have ever seen live or on television without a goal. As a footnote to this, I would add that the next round was almost as good as we outplayed Juventus, who had 2 players dismissed and we all enjoyed Fabregas coming of age against Vieira.
2. March 2008, AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2 – Am amazing match in which our young side outplayed an experienced Milan outfit, goals from Adebayor and if memory serves me correctly, a 25-yard ‘worldie’ from Cesc. As we had 2 years earlier in Madrid, we made history by becoming the first English side to beat AC Milan in the San Siro.
1. The Mirror made our 2-1 home victory over the eventual winners Barcelona at the Emirates last season Wenger’s greatest European night, and on so many levels it is hard to argue. The atmosphere as we roared the team back from a 1-0 deficit was phenomenal, and if we are honest we don’t raise the roof too often. We came back to beat possibly the greatest club side of all time with goals from RVP and Arshavin and we are certainly the only English side who can boast we have beaten this particular current crop of Barca legends. It is certainly one of my personal favourites and I distinctly recall as I walked from the stadium to Finsbury Park turning to my son, now 16, and saying that I actually did not care what we did for the rest of the season because nothing could top that. I meant it when I said it and even now for me the Mirror have it right and that last 20 minutes last February for me does top all my other Champion League memories. Closely followed perhaps by the last 20 minutes a season earlier when we were 2-0 down to the same opponents having been outplayed then any side has ever been. You could not have written the script for Theo Walcott to come off the bench and turn the game with a goal from nothing and Cesc scoring the equaliser with a broken leg against his boyhood club.
So there you have it. A top 5 from Mirror Sport from 15 years of European Champion League football for Wenger’s Arsenal, with a few personal observations thrown in.
However, I would welcome your own contributions in the comments section.
What are your most treasured special moments from Wenger’s back catalogue in Europe?
Here’s a few to kick you off – What about the Romford Pele’s away hat-trick against Werder Bremen in 2000, Henry ripping Roma apart in 2002 to net another hat-trick or Lehmann’s penalty save from Riquelme in the 2006 semi final shoot out?
I look forward to being reminded of some classic recollections either the Mirror of this particular fan have missed out.
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Mine is definately that night at El Madrigal and especially that penalty save. My feet didn’t touch the ground for days!
A night I’ll never forget is Inter 1 – 5 Arsenal. brilliant night