As we prepare for our Champions League trip to Club Brugge, some of our most memorable European clashes have come against Belgian sides, dating back to our inaugural European campaign in 1963/64.
On that occasion we were defeated 4-2 on aggregate by RFC Liege in the last 16 of the Fairs Cup - the precursor to the Europa League - but in 1970, with the team managed by Bertie Mee and coached by Don Howe starting to gel, we defeated an excellent Anderlecht side over two legs in the final of the same competition to earn our first contientinal triumph.
In the first leg in Brussels, we went down 3-1, with Ray Kennedy pulling back, as it turned out, a priceless late consolation goal with his head. The press described it as ‘Arsenal’s ray of light’, and so it proved in the return leg at a feverish Highbury, in front of 51,612.
On a heavy, muddy pitch, Eddie Kelly’s fearsome shot from outside the box gave us the lead, and in the second half John Radford’s towering header from Bob McNab’s pinpoint cross made it 2-0 on the night and handed us the advantage on away goals.
Although Dutch forward Jan Mulder whistled a shot just wide of goalkeeper Bob Wilson’s post, midfielder Jon Sammels put the tie beyond doubt with a fantastic finish late on. Gooners of a certain vintage still insist it was the most memorable of all Highbury occasions, and ended a 17-year trophy drought.
In the following season, we also defeated KSK Beveren 4-0 on aggregate in the last eight of the competition, as Mee’s side tried to retain their trophy. The damage was inflicted upon the Belgians at Highbury in a 4-0 win, thanks to Sammels, George Graham and a brace from Kennedy.
In the last 16 of the 1993/94 Cup Winners' Cup, we ran out 10-0 aggregate winners against Standard Liege. A superbly taken brace from Ian Wright, and an excellent free kick from Paul Merson gave us the security of a 3-0 first leg lead at Highbury, before we ran riot in Liege, leading 4-0 by half-time. The pick of the bunch of goals was Eddie McGoldrick’s late run and flying shot which saw us win 7-0 on the night, as we marched towards another European trophy success.
Fifteen years later, Standard Liege were defeated again in both matches during the Champions League group stage. A thriller in Belgium ended 3-2 as we came back from 2-0 down. Nicklas Bendtner slid home Arsenal’s first goal, before Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo netted late on to give Arsene Wenger’s side victory, before Samir Nasri and Denilson goals secured a comfortable 2-0 win at Emirates Stadium.
Thirty-five years after they defeated Anderlecht at Highbury in the Fairs Cup victory, the two clubs finally locked horns once more in the 2014/15 Champions League group stage. Wenger’s men fell behind in Brussels, before Kieran Gibbs volleyed home a Carl Jenkinson cross, and Lukas Podolski slammed home the winner late on.
The match at the Emirates was arguably the most thrilling of all of our encounters with Belgian teams. From the penalty spot, Mikel Arteta dinked Arsenal into the lead, before a brace from Alexis Sanchez appeared to give the Gunners an unassailable lead. But a second-half double from Anthony Vaden Borre plus an Aleksandr Mitrovic leveller made the score 3-3 on a breathless night.
While that result ended up in disappointment, our last defeat against a Belgian side came in October 1981 when we lost 1-0 at KFC Winterslag in the UEFA Cup, while we're also unbeaten in our last four away matches against Belgian sides. That includes our last trip to the nation in December 2019 when we produced a fightback of our own to recover from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Standard Liege.
After an 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli had scored twice in a 4-0 home success against the same side earlier in the competition, another teen in Bukayo Saka came to the fore in Belgium, assisting Alexandre Lacazette from left wing-back before scoring himself in the 81st minute to salvage a draw and ensure we finished top of our Europa League group.
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