Arsenal vs AS Roma Tickets

Arsenal welcome the Giallorossi to North London for this key UEFA Champions League encounter as the Gunners seek to make the most of their return to the big time.

The Emirates Stadium side spend six seasons out of the showpiece event somewhat non-coincidentally; this started just after Arsene Wenger left the club, but Mikel Arteta’s fine second-place finish in the Premier League in 2022/23 helped get them back to the big-time time, and they will be looking to end their drought in the competition.

Up until the 2023/24 season, only Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea had played more games in the UEFA Champions League era in terms of English sides, but whereas those three teams have all lifted the trophy, Arsenal are still awaiting the chance to do so, and that’s a fact that certainly irks their fans.

2006 saw them come painfully close to achieving that goal, but they were defeated 2-1 by FC Barcelona, with Wenger’s side having been 1-0 up with a little over a quarter of an hour to go, albeit with ten men following the red card given to German keeper Jens Lehmann.

Getting through the group stages has never been an issue for Arsenal, whereas the knockout stages invariably have, something they’ll be looking to improve upon in this campaign.

AS Roma have a very decent history in the competition themselves, getting to the final of the European Cup on the first occasion they took part. The club eventually lost out to Liverpool, painfully losing on penalties in a game that happened to take place in their Stadio Olimpico home.

2001/02, 2002/03, and 2004/05 saw group stage exits, but under Luciano Spalletti, they secured a lengthier stay in the tournament. Having finished second in their group, they then saw off Lyon before facing Manchester United in the Quarter-Finals. In the first leg, goals from Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei and Mirko Vucinic gave the Serie A side a handy 2-1 home win, but things went wildly wrong at Old Trafford.

Both Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice, and goals from Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney, and Patrice Evra saw AS Roma thrashed 7-1 and eliminated in shocking fashion. The two teams met again in the Quarter-Finals the following season, and once again, Manchester United had the upper hand, albeit in not quite so devastating circumstances.

2017/18 saw AS Roma beat FC Barcelona in the Quarter-Finals to set up a Semi-Final tie against Liverpool, and Jurgen Klopp’s side triumphed 5-2 in the home leg. In the return leg, Eusebio Di Francesco’s side secured a credible 4-2 win, but that was not sufficient to turn the fixture around.

Arsenal vs AS Roma Head-to-Head

Arsenal have met AS Roma in two different UEFA Champions League campaigns.

In 2002/03, they were drawn in the same group, and at the Stadio Olimpico, Thierry Henry put on a masterclass to complete a memorable hat-trick and earn Arsene Wenger’s side a 3-1 win, and the return fixture ended in a 1-1 draw.

They then met again in the Round of 16 in 2008/09. Robin van Persie scored the only goal of the game in the first leg at home, and Juan did likewise for Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, which meant the game went to penalties with Max Tonetto failing to score from his spot-kick, handing Arsenal the win.

Arsenal vs AS Roma Connections

Very few players have lined up for both teams, but one individual who has was Ivorian forward Gervinho. The striker and occasional winger moved to Arsenal in 2011 from Lille and scored 11 goals in 63 appearances before moving to AS Roma in 2013. At AS Roma, he proved a better fit, netting 26 times in 88 games across three seasons in the Italian capital.