Arsenal In Europe – 17 Years And Counting
Article by Lewis Borg-CardonaClick here to follow e-Arsenal on Twitter!
Arsenal continued their record European qualification run with a 1-0 home win against Turkish side Besiktas, but had to do it the hard way. Reduced to 10 men in both legs of a tricky tie, the Gunners once more demonstrated a new found grit and determination to see out the required result. It wasn’t pretty but it certainly was enthralling; especially when a score draw would have seen the good guys bundled out of their latest European adventure on the away goal rule.
The prize for this particular Turkish delight, was a slight feeling of déjà vu: a Champions League group containing not only another Istanbul based team in the shape of last season’s qualification opponents Galatasaray; but also the Jürgen Klopp managed German team that bested us to top last season’s Champions League group, Borussia Dortmund; plus one for those with long cherished Euro memories, current Belgian Pro League champions, R.S.C. Anderlecht. That’s a group that Arsenal should qualify from, but the ambition must be to top the group this time around.
Talk of Anderlecht takes Gooners of a certain age back to April 1970 and the two legged final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Arsenal travelled to the Belgium side’s Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in good heart, but with sixteen minutes left of the first leg were 3-0 down and seemingly out of the tie. Thankfully an 82nd minute header from Ray Kennedy gave Bertie Mee’s team a ‘Ray of hope’. Six days later at Highbury Eddie Kelly's early goal was the perfect tonic for a crowd officially recorded at over 51,000 (although Gooners there swear the number was nearer 65,000!), as a revitalised Arsenal piled on the pressure. They got their reward when John Radford levelled it up on aggregate with a second half header. A minute later boyhood Arsenal fan Jon Sammels unleashed a low drive into the bottom corner of the Anderlecht goal and Highbury went wild. The team held on for the final fifteen minutes to run out 3-0 winners on the night, 4-3 on aggregate.
If this all seems like ancient history to those of a younger persuasion, then bear in mind that 1970 win – off the back of League Cup final defeats in 1968 and 1969 - saw Arsenal lift the Fairs Cup following a full 17 years without a trophy. That barren spell makes the Gunners’ recent nine year fallow period seem like a mere blip. Added to that, the majority of that Fairs Cup winning team – containing players like Bob Wilson, George Graham, Charlie George, and inspirational captain Frank McLintock - then went on to win the domestic Double a year later. Hopefully that bodes well for the current Arsenal squad, off the back of last year’s FA Cup heroics.
However this season pans out, Arsenal will have to mount their European campaign – certainly the entire Champions League group stage – without last season’s top scorer, Olivier Giroud. With 48 hours to go in the transfer window as I write, that loss may well be offset by the addition of a world class striker…but don’t hold your breath.
World Cup winner Mesut Özil reckons Arsenal can reach the final of the Champions League this season and of course he’s right. But to do so, topping their group would appear to be a must, especially in the light of past failings. The one and only time Arsenal reached the final, back in 2006, the Gunners did indeed top their group, conceding two and scoring ten goals in the process: three goal Thierry Henry finishing top scorer of a team also containing goalscorers Robert Pires, Robin Van Persie and Dennis Bergkamp.
The current squad will do well to match those figures: numerically and legendary.
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