May 17, 2006: Arsenal's Champions League Robbery

Top row, left to right: Sol Campbell, Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva,

Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré, Robert Pires.

Bottom row, left to right: Aliaksandr Hleb, Cesc Fàbregas,

Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole.

May 17, 2006, 20 years ago: North London soccer team Arsenal FC reach the UEFA Champions League Final for the first time, at the Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

The fact that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger got a team with Emmanuel Eboué at right back, Aliaksandr Hleb at left midfield, and the weak-minded (and not yet 19-year-old) Cesc Fàbregas in central midfield into the Final shows that he was a better manager than Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp could ever be.

FC Barcelona were managed by Frank Rijkaard, who had won the Champions League, then known as the European Cup, as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, and with Ajax Amsterdam after the tournament's name change in 1995.

This team was absolutely loaded, with the great Brazilian forward Ronaldinho; Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o, rising Spanish stars Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, Swedish star Henrik Larsson; and national Captains Carles Puyol of Spain, Giovanni van Bronckhorst of the Netherlands, and Rafael Márquez of Mexico.

(Lionel Messi had already made his debut for Barcelona, but was not listed as a starter or a substitute for this game. Former star and future manager Josep "Pep" Guardiola was wrapping up his playing career elsewhere.)

When Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off with a straight red card in the 18th minute by referee Terje Hauge -- dubiously, if not incorrectly -- and Wenger had to send in backup goalie Manuel Almunia, later so bad he was nicknamed "The Clown" by his own team's fans -- he had to take off an attacking player to meet the down-to-10-men requirement, and he chose Robert Pires. A massive mistake.

Arsenal actually went 1-0 up in the 37th minute, thanks to a header by Sol Campbell. And they held that 1-0 lead into the 76th minute. And then...

Well, you didn't expect FC Barcelona, one of the dirtiest sports teams on the planet, to let that pass without cheating, did you? Eto'o's equalizer was clearly offside, but Hauge gave the goal. And then, in the 80th minute, Juliano Belletti put Barça up, 2-1. That was the final score.

Juliano Belletti

This turned out to be the last game for Arsenal for Pires, Campbell, the tapped-up Ashley Cole, and the retiring Dennis Bergkamp. And it was the beginning of the end at Arsenal for Thierry Henry, who captained Arsenal in the game, and picked the worst possible time to have a bad game. He did win a Champions League title... with Barcelona in 2009. By that point, Guardiola was managing them to tainted glory, and Messi was, along with Cristiano Ronaldo of arch-rival Real Madrid, being called the best player in the world.

I hadn't yet become an Arsenal fan. Which is a good thing. This game, known to Arsenal fans as "Heartbreak In Paris," the closest they have ever come to winning the Champions League, came just 6 days after my grandmother's death. I did not need this added to the list of things on my mind.

Arsenal would also be knocked out of the CL by Barcelona, albeit in earlier rounds, in 2010 and 2011, the latter being one of the most dubious games in team history, worthy of its own post, which I have written. Arsenal reached the Semifinals in 2009, but were knocked out by Manchester United; and 2025, knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who went on to win the Final.

In 2026, Arsenal have finally reached the Champions League Final again. It will be played on May 30, at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary. The opponent will be PSG -- with some irony, the team that plays its home games at the Stade de France, site of Arsenal's heartbreak 20 years ago.