ARSENE WENGER will always have Paris, yet his memories hold a haunting quality. When his Arsenal team pulled Barcelona yesterday in the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, the manager was carried back, inevitably, to that spring evening in the French capital four years ago, when glory in Europe’s showpiece final beckoned only for his hopes to be cruelly dashed.
Arsenal had their goalkeeper Jens Lehmann sent off in the 18th minute for a foul on the Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o and, although Sol Campbell headed them in front and Thierry Henry missed two presentable chances for 2-0, the Catalans came back to win 2-1. Wenger considers the defeat as his greatest regret in football and the passage of time has clearly done little to heal the wounds, which he continues to feel were largely inflicted by the Norwegian referee Terje Hauge.
“It was the referee’s fault, basically. When we went down to 10 men in a final that promised so much, it became a ‘No’ game. When a referee makes a decision like that, he has to be absolutely sure. You do not kill a final that one billion people watch if it’s not really clear. I had to take Robert Pires off after the red card. He still hates me today. We took a great player out who could have contributed to the quality of the game.”
Manchester United have also been given a rerun of a previous Champions League final. Alex Ferguson’s team will face Bayern Munich, whom they famously beat in Barcelona 11 years ago. “If we have everyone we need for the game, we have got a good chance,” Ferguson said.
Guardian Service
The Draw
Lyon v Bordeaux
Bayern Munich v Manchester Utd
Arsenal v Barcelona
Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow
The first legs will be played on March 30th/31st and the second legs on April 6th/7th.
Full quarter-final and semi-final details on page 7
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