Twenty years on from their last Champions League final, Arsenal will contest the 2025-26 showpiece. They’re within touching distance of being crowned
European champions for the first time.
Arsenal qualified for the UEFA Champions League final for just the second time on Tuesday, as they beatAtlético Madrid 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium to progress 2-1 on aggregate. It leaves them on the cusp of ending the European Cup’s most significant drought.
It was a typically bruising and tough encounter, but Arsenal emerged victorious thanks to Bukayo Saka’s close-range strike on the stroke of half-time. Ultimately, Atlético Madrid lacked the quality to get the better of the Gunners’ exceptional defence.
Tuesday’s encounter was Arsenal’s 225th match across the European Cup and Champions League, competitions they’ve never won.
That is comfortably the most matches played in those competitions by a team who’ve yet to win either, but they’ll finally have the opportunity to end that barren run at the Puskás Aréna on 30 May.
The showpiece in Budapest will come almost exactly 20 years on from Arsenal’s only prior Champions League final, a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Stade de France. It’s the longest period between European Cup/Champions League finals by an English team since Liverpool in 2005 (also 20 years).
Coincidentally, if Arsenal do ultimately go on to defeat either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain in the final, Atlético Madrid will replace the Gunners as the team with the most European Cup/Champions League games without lifting the trophy (192).
Games without winning UCL or European Cup
The vast majority of Arsenal’s 225 European Cup/UCL games have been specific to the Champions League. Since UEFA’s elite competition was rebranded in 1992, the Gunners have played 215 matches; that’s 61 more than any other team who’ve failed to win it (Benfica – 164).
Of course, Arsenal still have plenty of work to do in this season’s competition, and many will consider them outsiders regardless of who joins them in the final, such is the attacking quality possessed by Bayern and PSG.
But success in Europe has often been built on solid defences, and Arsenal’s certainly falls into that category.
They’ve arguably never been better positioned to finally be crowned champions of Europe.
UEFA Champions League Stats Opta
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