Arsenal vs Juventus FC Tickets

Arsenal spent six seasons away from the premier European club competition but made their return thanks to a great season achieved by Mikel Arteta in 2022/23. While it’s true that his Gunners side led Manchester City for much of the Premier League season and then let the title slip out of their grasp, you still can not undervalue the seismic jump the club made back towards the big time.

Indeed, it was their best season since Arsene Wenger left the club, and the return to UEFA Champions League action was the reward for this feat. Now, Arsenal must look to finally get their hands on the famous trophy, having gotten so close to doing so on a number of occasions, most notably in 2006.

In the 2005/06 season, Wenger’s side topped their admittedly weak UEFA Champions League group, winning five and drawing the other of their six clashes and conceding just twice in the process.

A Thierry Henry masterclass saw them past Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Round of 16, and Juventus were dealt with in the Quarter-Finals, with Villarreal being edged out in the Semi-Finals. Amazingly, over the course of those six knockout stage clashes, they didn’t concede a single goal.

They went into the final against FC Barcelona in Paris on a high, but the referee’s decision to order off keeper Jens Lehmann after just 18 minutes, though perhaps fair, was not something Wenger could have legislated for. Regardless, Sol Campbell put Arsenal ahead after 37 minutes, and they looked in the driving seat with 14 minutes to play. Barca boss Frank Rijkaard then saw the power of his substitutions start to take hold. Sub Henrik Larsson laid on the assist for Samuel Eto’o’s equalizer on 76 minutes, and the Swede then provided another killer pass to release fellow sub Juliano Belletti, and the Brazilian broke Arsenal's hearts with a winner after 80 minutes.

Wenger had also guided the club to four Quarter-Final exits as well as a Semi-Final defeat, and Arsenal were remarkably consistent in terms of qualification from the group stages, only to then falter, something Mikel Arteta will want to rectify.

Juventus, on the other hand, have tasted European Cup/UEFA Champions League success on a number of occasions. The first of their successes came in 1984/85 when they beat Liverpool by a single goal in Brussels. That success came after final defeats to Ajax in 1972/73 and Hamburger SV in 1982/83 in Athens.

1995/96 saw the Old Lady of Italian football celebrate another triumph, this time via penalties after beating Ajax in Rome. The following two seasons were not so fruitful as Marcello Lippi’s side lost to first Borussia Dortmund and then Real Madrid in back-to-back UEFA Champions League Finals.

Lippi took Juventus to another final in 2002/03 but once again was the losing coach as they fell on penalties to Serie A rivals AC Milan at Old Trafford. It took over a decade to reach those heights again, but they did so in 2014/15 but again lost, this time to FC Barcelona. 2016/17 saw them lose another final, with Real Madrid easily overcoming the Italian side 4-1 in Cardiff.

Arsenal vs Juventus FC Head-to-Head

Arsenal and Juventus have met on three occasions in Europe, the first of which came back in 1979/80 in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, with Arsenal edging out their opponents thanks to a Paul Vaessen goal in Turin that gave them a 2-1 Semi-Final win on aggregate before they then lost to Valencia in the final.

Their next meeting came in the group stages of the Champions League in 2001/02, where a Freddie Ljungberg brace saw Wenger’s side register a 3-1 home win before Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta scored the only goal of the game at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

The third occasion came in the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2005/06, with Arsene Wenger’s side securing a hard-fought 2-0 home win over the Italians thanks to goals from Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry in a game that saw both Mauro Camorensi and Jonathan Zebina sent off in the final minutes.

The second leg ended goalless, and once again, Juventus experienced a numerical disadvantage, with Czech Republic legend Pavel Nedved being ordered off.

Arsenal vs Juventus FC Connections

A surprising number of players have worn both the Arsenal and Juventus shirts over the course of their careers. Here are just a small sample. Aaron Ramsey, Thierry Henry, Armand Traore, Nicolas Anelka, Patrick Vieira, Nicklas Bendtner, Stepane Lichsteiner and Wojciech Szczesny.

Additionally, Arsenal midfield legend Liam Brady was something of a hero for both teams, starting his career at Highbury before making 307 appearances for the club between 1973 and 1980, scoring some memorable goals along the way. Then, in the summer of 1980, after Brady had seen his side beaten in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final, the Republic of Ireland international was lured to Italy and spent two seasons with Juventus, winning the Serie A title on both occasions before the arrival of Michel Platini saw him make the switch to Sampdoria in 1982.