Remembering Arsenal’s previous Champions League semi-finals

Remembering Arsenal’s previous Champions League semi-finals Arsenal are into the Champions League semi-finals for the second straight season, a club first for the Gunners. Mikel Arteta’s team takes on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final tonight, aiming for a positive result to take back to North London. The tie is only Arsenal’s fourth semi-final in this competition, and we’ve looked back at each of their previous semi-final clashes.

Arsenal vs Villarreal – 2005/06 First leg: Arsenal 1-0 Villarreal Second leg: Villarreal 0-0 Arsenal Arsenal became the first London club to reach a UEFA Champions League final in 2005/06, after squeezing past Villarreal in the last four. Arsene Wenger’s side reached the final on the back of a remarkable defensive record, achieving 10 consecutive clean sheets between the group stage and a 2-1 final defeat to Barcelona in Paris. After eliminating Juventus and Real Madrid to reach the last four, Arsenal faced underdogs Villarreal over two legs.

Kolo Toure stabbed home the decisive goal from an Alexander Hleb cross as Arsenal edged a tight first leg. Arsenal survived a scare in the return to sneak through at El Madrigal. Villarreal laid siege to the visitors’ goal and looked set to equalise late on when Gael Clichy fouled Jose Mari to concede a last-minute penalty.

In a dramatic conclusion, Jens Lehmann guessed right, saving Juan Roman Riquelme’s spot-kick to send Arsenal into the Champions League final. Arsenal vs Manchester United – 2008/09 First leg: Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal Second leg: Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United Arsenal met Manchester United in an epic all-English tie in 2008/09, but came out second-best to their Premier League rivals. The tie was evenly poised after a tight first leg at Old Trafford, decided by John O’Shea’s strike after Arsenal failed to deal with a corner.