!’m very surprised how confident Gooners are about Tuesday night.
Porto’s 1-0 victory in Portugal would have been more dangerous under previous UEFA protocol. The former ‘away goal rules’ meant that if the Portuguese club scored at the Emirates, Arsenal would need 3 to advance.
It still though is a case that if the Gunners concede we would need 3 to qualify, 2 to force to extra time.
As demonstrated at the weekend, it takes a second to make a mistake. We have left ourselves little room for error.
It’s a tie we should be winning and if not, we simply don’t deserve to be in the last 8 of the Champions League.
How often though in the history of the completion have we lost a first leg in the knockout stages and more importantly, what happened when we have?
You might be surprised ….
2005
1st leg -Bayern Munich 3-1 Arsenal
2nd leg – Arsenal 1-0
Outplayed for the majority of the 1st leg, an 88th min goal from Kolo Toure kept us alive in the tie. Thierry Henry set up a tense finale at Highbury.
2007
1st leg -PSV 1-0 Arsenal
2nd leg – Arsenal 1-1 PSV
Showing the danger of the away goal rule which we no longer have to worry about, taking PSV lightly in Holland meant when they equalised at our ground, we suddenly had to score two more.
2009
1st leg – Man United 1-0 Arsenal
2nd leg – Arsenal 1-3 Man United
Almunia’s saves at Old Trafford gave us hope in our only second ever semifinal in the competition. What should have been a memorable occasion at the Emirates was essentially over after 11 minutes with United 2-0 up. Ronaldo’s brace was world class.
2010
1st leg Porto 2-1 Arsenal
2nd leg Arsenal 5-0 Porto
Hopefully an omen?
The only time in the history of the competition we have overturned a first leg defeat was against Tuesday’s opponents.
One of our best European displays at the Emirates, Bendtner got a hat trick and Nasri scored a brilliant solo goal.
2012
1st leg AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal
2nd leg Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan
Our most famous exit?
Having been outplayed in Italy most assume we had nothing to play for. Yet at half time at the Emirates, we were one goal away from a famous comeback. We couldn’t find the 4th goal in the second half. It was like we had given too much energy.
2013
1st leg Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich
2nd leg Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal
For the second year running we are eliminated in glorious failure. Having been outplayed yet again in a first leg we leave it too late in the 2nd. Under today’s format, our first ever win at the Allianz Arena would have forced extra time, not seen us knocked out due to away goals.
2014
1st leg Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich
2nd leg Bayern Munich 1-1 Arsenal
For the second year running Bayern comfortably win at the Emirates yet we drastically improve in Germany.
Podolski’s strike puts us one goal away from levelling the tie. Perhaps learning from our near comeback a year before, the home side killed off the tie.
2015
1st leg – Arsenal 1-3 Monaco
2nd leg – Monaco 0-2 Arsenal
Celebrating the last 16 draw being kind for us for once, we were guilty of taking our French opponents lightly in North London, equally criminal was our finishing. The 2nd leg was a truer reflection of the difference in quality between the two sides and if there was another 5 mins left, I think we would have completed a famous fightback. If only we could have played like that two week earlier
2016-
1st leg – Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona
2nd leg – Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal
Unlike previous ties with Barcelona, this time the Gunners never threatened an upset by getting a result at the Emirates. Never playing like we believed it was likely, we simply were holding on till the visitors broke the deadlock.
Compared to the years before we never threatened a comeback in the second leg
2017
1st leg -Bayern Munich 5-1
2nd leg – 1-5
Perhaps our darkest day of the Emirates era? A 10- 2 aggregate scoreline to a side we were promised we would be competing with if we knocked down Highbury. Alexis Sanchez had the nerve to be laughing on the bench during the humiliation. This would be Mr Wenger’s final Champions League fixtures.
So, 10 times in the history of CL we have lost our first leg of a knockout tie. Only once have we turned that tie around in the 2nd leg.
One in Ten!
Although that was against Porto
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