It was 2006 when Arsenal played their first and only final of the Champions League. With a solid team in which the goalkeeper Lehmann had not even conceded a goal during the competition against teams such as Real Madrid, Juventus or Villarreal, the Londoners were indeed ready to face a mighty Barcelona led by Ronaldinho.
Eventually, they lost that match in spite of scoring first in the final. Nonetheless, it was a fruitful campaign for the team managed by Arsène Wenger. But the early elimination in the next year against PSV in the second round was a crash for the squad, who in the next summer, lost perhaps their best player in the history, Thierry Henry.
Anyway, somehow they rebuilt themselves and from 2008 until 2010, they reached a semifinal and twice the quarter-finals, being eliminated by mighty teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona.
The reality of the Europa League
Afterward, they started a period of seven years in which they weren't capable of even reaching the quarter-finals. Certainly, sometimes they were beaten by clearly better teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but most embarrassing were the defeats against Milan by 4-0 at San Siro or against Monaco at home by 1-3.
Therefore, last year's season at the Europa League, where they felt like one of the best teams in the competition, was maybe a reminder that this tournament is more adequate for Arsenal nowadays.
Precisely, they lost in an epic semifinal against the eventual champions, Atletico Madrid, and surely they will keep regretting the many chances that they missed at the Emirates Stadium to sentence the draw against the Spanish.
Liverpool shine against PSG
Perhaps it is to soon but the victory at Anfield by 3-2 probably will be remembered as one of the great nights in the European history of Liverpool.
Although the visitors had Cavani, Neymar, and Mbappé as the main strikers, Klopp's team didn't lose their boldness and they were trying to score as many goals as possible.
Thus, Wijnaldum, Henderson, and Milner were commanding the pressure during the whole match and showing precision and dynamism when having possession. Along with them, Gomez and Van Dijk gave another impeccable exhibition of defensive skills despite playing with the line very high against a such a powerful team as PSG.
Besides that, the full-backs were again superb, and although Salah is not as magnificent as he was during the last season, he and Mané were relentless when attacking and defending. Apart from that, Sturridge and Firmino peaked the night with their own moments of glory in a performance that will be watched with respect by the other powerhouses in Europe.
