It was announced last week that Arsenal would face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League round of 16, the two clubs will kick off the first leg at The Estádio José Alvalade at 17:45 GMT on Thursday March 9th and will then they will battle it out again at The Emirates at 20:00 GMT for their place in the quarter finals. In recent years and under many different managers, Arsenal fans have had to watch their club crash out of the Europa League in painful fashion. In this article we take a look back at The Gunner’s shortfalls in the UEFA competition and will tackle the question if this phenomenal Arsenal side will break the club’s abysmal European history or if there will be more heartbreak?
ARSENAL V ATLETICO MADRID -SEMI FINALS 2018
Going into the game as slight underdogs, The Emirates was electric as fans tried everything to help push their club through an incredibly challenging Europa League tie against Atletico Madrid. A dramatic start to the game saw Šime Vrsaljko see red with the RB receiving two yellow cards in the space of 10 minute. Arsenal went on to control majority of the game as they relentlessly pushed for a goal. They finally found a breakthrough and were able to take the lead through Alexandre Lacazette’s goal in the 61st minute. Arsene Wenger’s men continued to push for a second, playing attractive, attacking football but were ultimately let down by their defensive fragility. Atletico Madrid equalized through Antoine Griezmann’s stunning solo goal. The French striker received the ball near the halfway line, dribbled past a couple of Arsenal defenders, and calmly slotted the ball past David Ospina. Arsenal had missed a golden oppurtunity to take a significant advantage to the second leg as the first leg ended 1-1.
Similarly the second leg, Arsenal started brightly but failed to convert their chances. Atletico’s defence, led by Diego Godin, stood firm and repelled the gunners strong push for an opening. In spite of this, Diego Costa capitalized on a defensive mistake by Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny to score the only goal of the game. The result was a disappointing end to Arsene Wenger’s reign as manager, who had announced his departure from the club earlier in the month. It would have been a fitting farewell for Wenger to lift a European trophy, but it was not to mean’t be and his legacy will always be remembered.
ARSENAL V CHELSEA- FINAL 2019
After narrowly missing out on top four to bitter rivals Tottenham, Arsenal fans were keen be playing in the Champions League again and hopefully have a piece of silverware to show for the fantastic football that had been displayed in Unai Emery’s first season. In the first half the two sides could not be separated, with clubs set of players showcasing the talents of England’s top football teams. The second half was quite the opposite, a dominant display from Chelsea saw the blues smash 4 past the gunners. A consolation goal from Alex Iwobi wasn’t enough to avoid defeat with the score finishing at an embarrassing 4-1 loss. This was a significant blow for Emery and his team as they would have to spend another season outside of the Champions league
ARSENAL V OLYMPIACOS- ROUND OF 32 2020
2 months into his reign as Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta was looking to try and progress to the Europa League round of 16 but faced a tough test against Greek side, Olympiacos. The first leg at the Georgios Karaiskakis Football Stadium was a cagey conflict with both sides struggling to find a breakthrough. However a late goal by Arsenal striker, Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal a crucial away goal advantage to take back to the Emirates. The second leg was not as straight forward as Mikel Arteta would’ve hoped. Just after half time Olympiacos managed to neutralise the gunner’s away goal advantage by making it 0-1 in the 53rd minute, with both sides failing to secure a winner, this tie was unable to be solved within 90 minutes. Extra time rolled on as both sides fought hard for their place in the next round, the Emirates roaring their side on. Suddenly there was a moment of magic, Arsenal forward Pierre Emmerick Aubameyang produced a beautiful overhead kick giving Arsenal the lead in what looked like the winner in this intense tie, all the gunners had to do now was hang on for the remaining 7 minutes. What happened next was a clear reminder to new boss Arteta how much work he had left to do at Arsenal, in the 119th minute a beautiful pass from Masouras was tucked away by El-Arabi. Arsenal fans could not believe their eyes, their dreadful European form continued, they were out of the Europa League once again.
Arsenal V Villareal- SEMI FINAL 2021
Sat 8th in the league and a significant way off the top four, Arsenal were having an abysmal season and were performing substantially under the expectations set at the start of the season. As a result, the atmosphere around the Emirates was incredibly toxic and became a breeding ground for negativity. Fans were divided and argumentative over the future of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, with large proportion strongly believing the club’s current situations was completely unacceptable and that it was time to hit the reset button. On the other hand, many fans wanted to ‘trust the process’ and felt it would be unfair and pointless in changing the management in the middle of the reset stage. In addition to this toxicity, only a couple weeks earlier thousands of fans had gathered outside the Emirates to protest against current owner Stan Kroenke. Supporters were furious over the American’s failed attempt to join the European Super League and also expressed their concerns over the lack of communication and interaction between KSE and the fanbase. Mikel Arteta’s men were going into this tie with immense pressure and responsibility to try and at least attain a positive from this season by possibly reaching a European final, there was only one thing stopping them. To get to the final they had to defeat Ex Arsenal manager Unai Emery’s Villareal side.
The first leg kicked off at the Estadio de la Cerámica, the players on the pitch undoubtedly knew the stakes and the significance this fixture had for them, their fans and their manager. However, this was not evident at all on the pitch. Within 5 minutes Manu Trigueros scored the opener for Villareal and then Raúl Albiol managed to further the Spanish side’s lead. After the first 30 minutes Mikel Arteta found his side trailing by two goals already, they had it all to do in the second half. Dani Ceballos didn’t make life any easier for his team mates, as a rash challenge from him saw the Spaniard receive a second yellow card and an early bath. A penalty from Nicolas Pepe was unable to help the gunners avoid defeat, but it brought an important away goal back to the Emirates.
The second leg was expected to be a dominating and aggressive push from Arsenal to try and attack and find a goal which would put them through on away goals. However, despite a few scarce and infrequent opportunities, it was quite the opposite. Arsenal seemed uninspired and lacked energy or urgency, the players seemed oblivious to the significance of the fixture and occasion. It ended as a dull 0-0 draw, it was a dark day for Arsenal as the slow realisation slowly seeped in that it was highly likely they would not be competing in ANY European competitions the following season. Unai Emery had effortlessly toppled his successor and had gotten through to his 5th Europa League final, in which he would go onto win. It was an evening to forget for Arsenal but most importantly it was another evening which created more questions and decisions to be made to the Arsenal hierarchy.
Ahead of the Europa League round of 16 which starts on Thursday, some supporters believe Arsenal have bigger fish to fry this year in their Premier League title race. However, the league leader’s terrific ability to always find a solution to win has given fans optimism that their side could also have a succesful Europa League campaign and erase the heart ache from previous years. The gunners managed to skip the round of 32 and secure their place in the round of 16 by topping their group, winning all games apart from a tough fixture away at PSV in which Mikel Arteta’s men lost 2-0. On the other hand, Sporting Lisbon went home early in their Champions League campaign, finishing 3rd behind Tottenham and Frankfurt, sending them to the Europa League round of 32 instead. Despite struggling in a 1-1 draw at home against FC Midtjylland, they progressed into the next round with a dominant display in the second leg, smashing 4 goals past their Danish opponents. They now face the Premier League’s league leaders who have blown the football world away with their incredible form coupled with their beautiful style of football. It will certainly be a fascinating battle as both sides will be eager to go one step closer to European glory, and advance to the Quarter Finals.