Wednesday night’s Europa League final was meant to be a momentous occasion for Arsenal, but as we all know, it all went a bit (lot) wrong.
A 4-1 defeat saw the Gunners in tatters that leaves Unai Emery now with a momentous task of rebuilding one of the most fractured teams in the Premier League and leaves a big question mark over the future of Arsenal.
A moment in time – Arsenal win the Cup Winners’ Cup, 1994
It was Arsenal’s fifth European final defeat in their history and their fourth in a row, making it 25 years since the Gunners were on the winning side of a continental finale where George Graham led the north London club to the Cup Winners’ Cup.
After a comfortable road to the final, that saw a 10-0 aggregate win against Standard Liege, Arsenal head to the final facing off against the winners of last year’s competition, Parma, who had beaten the likes of Benfica and Ajax to reach the showdown in Copenhagen.
With the Italian side aiming to become the first team in history to win the Cup Winners’ Cup back-to-back, there were some nerves in the air for Arsenal heading into the final, especially without top goalscorer Ian Wright in the side, who missed out due to suspension.
And so the game kicked-off, and although Parma came close early on with Tomas Brolin hitting the post, the Gunners managed to take the lead in the first-half through Alan Smith, who guided in a wonderful volley from outside the penalty area to make it 1-0 to the Arsenal.
It was this game, in fact, that the chant ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ became popularised according to Arsenal mythology, as after Smith’s opening goal the Gunners held firm to conceal their one-goal lead for the rest of the final.
Tony Adams and Steve Bould man-marked Parma strikers Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla out of the game, cutting off the Italian sides attacking central threat and thus making Nevio Scala’s side utterly helpless, and being the deciding factor that led to Arsenal lifting their first ever major European trophy.
25 years since that day in Copenhagen, and Arsenal are still looking to recapture the magic of that night that has gone down in club folklore, and after four successive European final losses since 1994, it’s starting to look like the Gunners are due success on the continent sooner rather than later.
Arsenal fans, will the Gunners ever win a European cup again? Let us know!
