Arsenal return to scene of European glory night seeking another lift

Arsenal’s last visit to the San Siro to play Inter Milan, 21 years ago this month, is the stuff of red and white legend. Desperately needing a result to keep alive their Champions League hopes but sent into battle at one of European football’s most daunting arenas without key players, Arsene Wenger’s team delivered a 5-1 win and one of the most glorious nights in the club’s history.

How Arsenal could do with another big result to lift the spirits when the teams meet on Wednesday night for the first time since that 2003 fixture. This time it is their domestic form that has left them facing an uphill battle, with just one point from their last three Premier League games cutting them seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

By contrast, results in the new-look Champions League have been altogether smoother sailing. Back-to-back home wins over Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk have put Mikel Arteta’s side in a strong position to progress. Their only dropped points came in Bergamo against Atalanta, although they would probably take the same from this second trip to Italy.

That five-goal rout of Inter may not seem quite as special in hindsight, given that Arsenal went on to win the Premier League without losing a game that season, but it made them the first English team ever to win at the San Siro. They were also barely given a prayer of winning, such was the difference in European pedigree between the teams. 

This was before English clubs became a collective force in the Champions League. Only one, Manchester United, had reached any of the last 18 finals. Although its 90s heyday was fading, Serie A had provided both finalists in the previous season. On top of that, Arsenal were without captain Patrick Vieira and former Inter forward Dennis Bergkamp. 

Enter Thierry Henry. Arsenal’s record goalscorer had no shortage of magical moments for the club but not many came close to his virtuoso display in Milan, where he scored two, set up two more and generally terrorised an Inter defence featuring Marco Materazzi, Ivan Cordoba and future Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro. 

Today’s Arsenal don’t have a talisman of Henry’s quality but the closest thing to a talisman is Bukayo Saka, who is still finding his feet again after injury. Martin Odegaard, the Bergkamp to Saka’s Henry, has been an increasingly glaring absentee so the sight of him back in full training on Tuesday would have been a welcome one indeed. 

Compounding the club’s current wobble was the resignation this week of popular director of football Edu, the former Invincible and scorer of their fourth goal in that famous win over Inter. As Arsenal seek a result to restore some stability it is over to another Gunners midfielder of yesteryear, Arteta, to make his own mark in Milan.