Arsenal vs RC Lens Tickets

This clash between Arsenal and RC Lens is very much a fixture between two teams with wildly different histories in the UEFA Champions League, indeed in European club competitions as a whole.

The Gunners were practically an ever-present fixture in the competition during Arsene Wenger’s reign at the North London club, appearing in just about every edition of the competition for the first two decades of this century until the French boss retired from his position.

Racing Club Lens, on the other hand, have appeared in two editions of the competition, in 1998/99 and 2002/03, and on both occasions, they stuttered and failed to progress in the competition.

Arsenal were losing finalists in 2005/06, going down 2-1 to FC Barcelona in a game that saw them down to ten men after just 18 minutes. They’ve also finished in the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals, and fans of the club will be glad to see them back in the competition after a few years out.

The lean years that bookended the final seasons Arsene Wenger was in charge, as well as the short-term spell that Unai Emery took over, saw them compete in the UEFA Europa League, where they were losing finalists in 2018/19, going down 4-1 against Chelsea.

Arsenal vs RC Lens Head-to-Head

RC Lens have only really significantly impressed in Europe on one occasion when, in 1999/2000, they made a run all the way to the UEFA Cup Semi-Finals, when they came up against Arsenal.

That was the second occasion the two teams have met.

In 1998/99 they were in the same group. In September 1998, Marc Overmars gave Arsenal the lead in France, but Tony Vairelles scored a 90th-minute equalizer.

The return match took place at Wembley Stadium, and Lens pulled off a shock win thanks to a Mickael Debeve winner after 72 minutes in a match that saw both Ray Parlour and Tony Vairelles sent off late on.

Their second set of fixtures came in the following season when Arsene Wenger secured a measure of revenge.

In the first leg of their UEFA Cup Semi-Final, a Dennis Berkgamp goal gave the Premier League side a narrow lead to take to France.

In the second leg, Thierry Henry put Arsenal Ahead before Pascal Nouma equalized with 17 minutes left to play. Nwankwo Kanu settled the contest by scoring a late winner to complete a 3-1 aggregate win.

Arsenal went on to lose to Galatasaray on penalties in the UEFA Cup Final.