Something of a non-event really. Arsenal were guaranteed to qualify top of the group, and Ajax guaranteed to finish second. So, absolutely nothing to play for - the number of spare tickets floating around made this quite obvious, as did the attitude of many of the players, who treated it as a practice match. And you can't really blame them, with many far more important games coming up this month.
One thing of note did happen in the game - we got a penalty, which Thierry Henry slotted wide of the post. Other than that, the game just petered out into a dull 0-0 draw, one of the least interesting matches I've ever seen!
Prior to this game, Arsenal had set an all time record for scoring in consecutive European games - 22 games since we last failed to score. Well, all runs must come to an end some time, and at least the fact that it was now makes something vaguely interesting to say about this game.
The main fun and excitement came away from the game, in Lisbon to be precise. Manchester United, who apparently have won the Champions League trophy before (although you would never know, because the media never mention it); very humiliatingly failed to beat the mighty Benfica. That meant they failed to get through the group stage for the first time in 10 years, and even more amusingly, failed to qualify for even the UEFA Cup as a consolation. I know that's bad in the long run for all English teams, but it was well worth it for the short term amusement. Highbury erupted on hearing the news, as I later found out, so did most football fans everywhere!!
07 December 2005
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