Not Long Ago: A Fortress called Highbury and a Gunner called Lehmann

Champions League Round 2 Leg 2
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Wednesday, March 08, 2006, 7.45pm

On the night when the Galacticos needed to shine the brightest The Gunners' it was who dazzled in the skies at Highbury.

A breathless encounter with the Galacticos of Madrid that eventually ended in a nil nil draw saw us go through to the quarter finals of the Champions League, eliminating Real out of the competition in the process. Hurrah!!

The hero of the game was by all means our German goalkeeper 'Jens Lehman. Though he was magnificent throughout but one of his saves was simply outstanding and one which denied Real their best chance to score against us. Had it not been for that save the complexion of the game could have been quiet different then it eventually ended with. But then as the saying, that, all is well that ends well!!

Until late yesterday Wenger was undecided upon the formation he was to deploy for this one but in the end opted the same formation and players that he did in Bernabeu. The result was the same too. Not literally though. That night we won courtesy a magnificent and stunning goal by lethal Henry while yesterday too we won; albeit by the virtue of our aggregate score. Isn’t that nice?

For a match that ended a nil nil draw it was truly an incredible one. Throughout the entire match numerous opportunities were created by both the sides but neither managed to score.

Lehmann was in the thick of happenings as early as the 2nd minute. Though it fell to Real but the first chance came within the 2nd minute. Ronaldo had the time and space to head the ball towards our goal but Lehman made a timely save. Immediately Roberto Carlos shot narrowly wide. An indication of how things would develop in this game.

But then immediately Reyes sent a shot wide. Soon in the 15th minute, Ronaldo found himself clear and was set to score only to be denied by a fantastic and timely challenge from Gilberto. Then a minute later Senderos squandered another chance when he failed to connect to a Henry free-kick. Then Hleb fired in the air, then before the half-hour Reyes shot at the goal was deflected by Salgado. Then came the most crucial chance of the first half. When Gilberto launched a high ball to the left of the area Henry was quicker to reach and control the ball before two defenders arrived. In the meantime Reyes was as free as a bee on the right. Henry passed the ball to him, Reyes was still clear but had to hurry his shot as two defenders were back tracking by now. With eight yards out he hit the ball, managed to beat Iker Casillas but his shot hit the crossbar. The agony of it!

Real replied soon and Zidane was able to find his way in Arsenal's box and was about to shoot when Kolo Toure produced an excellent challenge to clear the danger. In the second half too chances kept coming and being wasted. And then the best chance fell to Raul. Raul struck a shot that looked goal-bound but luckily for us hit the inside of Lehmann’s right post. The ball kindly rebounded back to him and then he again took a fierce shot which would have equalled the scores had not Lehman incredibly put his right arm to steer the shot away by his finger tips. A stunning save!! Especially considering that when Raul hit back, Lehman was on the floor trying to recover from the first shot but the keeper somehow managed to meet the ball with his right arm and avert the danger. A remarkable save.

We had our fair chances as well to kill the game off. Hleb saw a shot deflected wide. Same with Eboye. Then it was a sight to watch. Henry from 20 yards out danced with three Real players and then sent a fierce curler which was just tipped by Casillas. That was goal bound!!

Then Wenger bought Pires in for Reyes & later Bergkamp for Hleb. Real made changes too. The visitors kept firing passes and crosses and tried all their might at our defence but all in vain. Our last serious chance to score a goal came from a Real's corner. Casillas came up front to assist his team to take a corner. When the corner was taken, it fell to Pires who after running a few steps took a shot at the goal from his own half with Casillas and Roberto Carlos desperately running back with full might but the match ended goalless when Roberto Carlos stopped it just at the line.

The match ended goalless but Arsenal had emerged victorious. Real crashed out. The final whistle sent the Highbury crowd crazy. The players, the fans ecstatic!! And rightly so. It was a hard-earned passage. The players had put up an outstanding performance both in Real as well at Highbury to march to the quarters. As in Madrid, the players put up a determined effort and everybody put in their best. We came up with decent moves and could have scored at least 2 goals but that was not the case to be. Nevertheless, a truly deserving draw and a worthy qualification too.

Particularly appreciable was our defence. They were just not going to let anything thru. If our offensive strike at Real handed us a vital goal lead then our defence today actually saw us safe through the passage. In Zidane, Ronaldo, Raul and Beckham our defence was up against a fierce tide which they braved and kept at bay. Chances came and went but the defence held its own. Not only the defence but Ljungberg, Gilberto, Toure, Eboye and others they all put in tackles whenever needed. Henry again led by example by making two difficult tackles himself. As such to say it was heroic defending by the entire team. But the man who stood out in Real’s siege of Highbury was undoubtedly Jens. Even the captain and manager both attributed a large part of yesterdays clean sheet to Jens and couldn’t stop praising him. Marshalled by Jens our defence was solid and didn’t let Real to take a straw from us. That save of his from Raul’s rebounded shot was magnificent and momentous. If Real would have scored that goal, the match would have opened up again. Jens is certainly charged up and he has been putting similar performances now for us week in week out. Man! This guy certainly wants to be in Germany this year. Magnificent Jens!!

We have qualified for the quarters previously too but achieving it with a triumph over Real Madrid so sweet. With Chelsea knocked-out and eliminated out of the competition by Barca this qualification comes more sweeter.

It was an ordeal which we overcame with collective team work. We were skilful, determined, focussed and tactical. Another match where the team played with confidence and spirit. And that’s what exactly Wenger says here.

What a night for Highbury to witness. The Gunners of Arsenal have ousted the Galacticos of Madrid at THOF!! We had never played a competitive match before with Real at Highbury. So their coming was an event looked upon. When Henry led the Gunners out from the tunnel onto the pitch; one could sense the feeling that this was history in the making.

And led us he truly, to march on comprehensively, convincingly, defending, battling, defying into the next battlefield of this war of ours for the conquest of Europe.