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The last time both Arsenal and Madrid faced each other off competitively, it was the Gunners that emerged victorious thanks to Thierry Henry's heroics at the Bernabeu.
When Arsenal face Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final tie on Wednesday night, it will invoke memories of the last meeting between the two sides at the Bernabeu in February 2006.
That night, Real Madrid faithful arrived in typically confident fashion. The Arsenal contingent? Resigned to what felt like footballing fate. Every ounce of logic pointed to a Madrid win. From a North London lens, this tie looked like a summit where hope went to die.
The Galactico era was fraying at the edges but still shimmered with legacy. Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, Raul, Roberto Carlos — all still wearing white, all still dangerous.
Sure, the inclusion of Thomas Gravesen and Jonathan Woodgate hinted at a lesser vintage, but Real Madrid remained royalty. The stadium buzzed with expectancy.
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Arsenal, on the other hand, arrived battered and bruised. They had just endured a horrendous run, bowing out of three domestic competitions in one week — a stretch Arsène Wenger labelled his “worst”.
Humiliations at the hands of Wigan and Bolton were compounded by Sol Campbell’s mid-game walkout against West Ham, an afternoon where he got battered by Nigel Reo-Cocker in a 3-2 loss. The injury list was a satire of misfortune: eight different left-backs used that season, with midfielder Mathieu Flamini now the reluctant pick.
Campbell’s absence pushed 21-year-old Philippe Senderos into the heart of defence. Alongside him, Kolo Toure was the only semblance of experience.
Emmanuel Eboue had made his first Premier League start just days before. This wasn’t a backline; it was a jazz ensemble made up on the fly: Eboue-Toure-Senderos-Flamini. Arsenal had no right to compete.
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But they did have Thierry Henry.
Wenger opted to ditched his usual shape and fielded a packed midfield. He went for Gilberto Silva’s assuring presence, Freddie Ljungberg’s engine, and Cesc Fabregas’ magic.
Jose Antonio Reyes and Alexander Hleb would offer flair from the flanks, and up top, Henry was the man to get the goals.
The Frenchman had been Arsenal’s beating heart for seven years. He dazzled in the Premier League, lit up the world stage with France, and carried himself with an elegance few in the game could replicate.
Though limping through the season with an Achilles issue and visibly frustrated with the team’s dip, he still had clutch ability in his locker.
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How Thierry Henry made the impossible possible
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.Arsenal, improbably, were fearless from the start. Henry set up early chances for Reyes and Ljungberg, then tested Casillas himself.
The clutch moment arrived.
Just after the break, Henry picked the ball up near halfway. In seconds, he was gone — swerving past Ronaldo, sending Guti tumbling, outpacing Ramos. One cool finish across Casillas and into the far corner, and the Bernabeu was stunned into admiration.
Wheeling away in celebration, Henry put his index finger on his lips to momentarily shush the Bernabeu crowd, and then outstretched his arms before his teammates joined in celebration.
Arsenal didn’t shrink after scoring. They kept pushing. Jens Lehmann dealt calmly with Madrid’s flashes of danger. Fabregas earned rare applause from the home crowd as he left the field. And the makeshift backline was imperious.
For one night, the Galacticos were outshone — in their own cathedral — by a patched-up Arsenal side led by a man possessed.
Back at Highbury, Wenger warned of complacency. “Don’t imagine that Real Madrid rolls the red carpet out,” he cautioned. He needn’t have worried.
What followed was a 0-0 return leg stalemate at Higbury.. Zidane to Ronaldo early on, Lehmann sharp. Reyes hit the bar, Raul returned the favour, Lehmann again heroic. The tension was glorious.
The final whistle triggered chaos. “It will take a while to sink in,” said Lehmann. Henry, meanwhile, underlined what had changed. “We played as a team again.”
Arsenal went on to beat Juventus, then Villarreal, en route to their first-ever Champions League final. They salvaged their Premier League form, secured a top-four finish, and celebrated their last Highbury game with a 4-2 thumping of Wigan, with Henry scoring a hat-trick.
Though they lost the final to Barcelona, the journey was so emotional, so rich, that Henry postponed a move to the Catalan giants to lead Arsenal into the Emirates era.
Can Mikel Arteta learn from history?
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Fast-forward to 2025. Mikel Arteta has his own worries. Influential defender Gabriel will be missing for the tie.
There are more doubts about the fitness of Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Ricardo Calafiori, as well as the lack of strikers upfront with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz out.
But as he readies his side for a double-header against Madrid,, he can draw inspiration from history.
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