When Arsenal were too good in England but not good enough in Europe
7By the September of 1999, when Arsenal opened up their Champions League campaign in Florence, the Gunners were definitively one of the better teams in Europe.
Arsene Wenger had led the North London club to a domestic double in 1998. They were the biggest domestic threat to a treble-winning Manchester United, taking them to the final day of the Premier League season and were only defeated by them in an FA Cup semi-final by one of the greatest goals ever scored by Ryan Giggs.
However, Wenger couldn’t crack Europe.
Dynamo Kyiv took four points off them in the 1998-99 group phase and stopped Arsenal from reaching the quarter final.
The following year, Arsenal were unable to beat group winners Barcelona and were unable to score in either match against Fiorentina: drawing in Italy and losing to a stunning Gabriel Batistuta strike at Wembley.
Wenger would only coach one Champions League knockout game as Arsenal manager prior to the Invincibles season, and only in 2004 would he win one.
#AFC #UCL
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Voice: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Words: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Edit: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
What If Football is a form of footballing storytelling that takes the audience down a different path to our current reality.
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