Before reviewing after 2006
© Imago
On Tuesday, FC Arsenal and Real Madrid meet in the Champions League-for the first time since 2006. In general, this is only the second opportunity since the back and forth in the final of 16 at the time which did not end for the Spanish. The triumph of Arsenal has been historic in many ways. We look at the meetings a little over 19 years ago with some of the decisive protagonists of the artillerymen, including Thierry Henry and Jens Lehmann. In defense, the Londoners had to improvise vigorously.
On March 8, 2006, Arsenal submitted a 0-0 in the home stadium against the Royal, after winning 1-0 in the first leg on February 21 in Madrid. Henry obtained the winning goal and therefore the first success of an English team in a competition match in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium against Real. Nottingham Forest won the Royal Class final in the traditional arena in 1980, but against HSV (1-0). After Arsenal 2006, only three other victories followed by English teams, Liverpool 2009 (1: 0), Manchester City 2020 (2: 1) and Chelsea 2022 (3: 2 NV; on the complete balance of Real Madrid against English clubs).
Lehmann also provided a little historic marginal note in the Arsenal box with its white vest both in the back and in the return match in 2006. To date, FC Arsenal has not conceded a single goal against Real. In the Champions League, the Gunners are one of the only two teams, against which Real could not score a goal in the leading class. LOSC Lille had to survive only one match in the reformed system.
A parallel to 2006 should be concerned about the Gunners’ fans before the games on Tuesday and next week on Wednesday: like then there are injury problems. At least, the failure of the central defender Gabriel weighs heavily. But in 2006, the Gunners have already shown that a recruit defense can also succeed. At that time, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Lauren and Gaël Clichy were missing due to an injury. Emmanuel Eboué played his back on the right, midfielder Mathieu Flamini had to help on the left. The central defense formed Kolo Touré, who was elected man of the match in the second match, and Philippe Senderos. Together, the two reached a market value of 12 million euros, almost 6 million less than Sergio Ramos at Real alone.
It is all the more remarkable as the zero at the end is twice. Despite legendary names such as Ronaldo, Raúl, David Beckham or Zinédine Zidane, Lehmann was able to keep his box clean. He reached the final with Arsenal that year and stole against Barcelona with red. Arsenal has lost 1: 2 and has not returned to the final since then.