Arsenal vs Celtic FC Tickets

Of these two teams, it’s Scottish giants Celtic that have won the ultimate prize in European club football, albeit that coming all the way back in 1967 when the UEFA Champions League was branded as the European Cup.

Indeed, the Glasgow side were the first British side to win the trophy, doing so a year before Manchester United thumped Benfica to lift the famous silverware. Arsenal, on the other hand, may not have won the prize, but they were remarkably consistent in the competition during Arsene Wenger’s reign at the North London club.

The high point, of course, being the 2005/06 final when they met FC Barcelona in Paris. On that occasion, Arsenal had Jens Lehmann sent off after just 18 minutes, but Sol Campbell nonetheless gave Wenger’s side the lead eight minutes before the break. They held firm with 14 minutes left to play when Samuel Eto’o leveled before Brazilian sub Juliano Belletti broke Arsenal hearts with an 80th-minute winner.

Between 2003/04 and 2016/17, Arsenal made it at least to the Round of 16 in every season, reaching the Quarter-Finals twice and a Semi-Final in 2008/09, when Manchester United dumped them out.

Arsenal have won European titles before, with an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win in 1969-70 and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup triumph coming in 1993/94 over Parma courtesy of an Alan Smith cracker.

Celtic’s 1966/67 triumph came via a 2-1 win over Internazionale in Lisbon, and just a few short years later, in 1969/70, they returned to the final, only to lose to Feyenoord on this occasion.

Semi-Final exits followed in 1971/72 and 1973/74 in a period that was most definitely the Parkhead club’s nadir.

As for the UEFA Champions League era, Celtic have regularly competed in the competition but have only reached the Round of 16, doing so three times.

Arsenal vs. Celtic Head to Head

The two sides have met in the UEFA Champions League on two previous occasions in the Play-Off Round in 2009/10.

In the first leg at Celtic Park, William Gallas gave Arsenal the lead before a Gary Caldwell own goal put the tie very much in the away side’s favour. In the return leg, Eduardo, Emmanuel Eboue, and Andrei Arshavin all scored before Massimo Donati netted a consolation, and Wenger’s side progressed to the group stage at Celtic’s expense.

Arsenal vs. Celtic Connections

A number of individuals have represented both teams, but perhaps the most famous example of this has to be stylish forward Charlie Nicholas. The Scottish international started his career at Celtic and racked up 84 goals in 117 appearances to earn a big-money move to Highbury, where he quickly became a fan favourite.

He racked up 54 goals in 184 games for the Gunners and picked up an English League Cup in the process before returning to Celtic for another five-season spell.

Others to have played for both include full-back Kieran Tierney and Freddie Ljungberg.