1-0 to the Arsenal lives on with clean sheets Mikel Arteta's team's superpower

Around 10pm on Tuesday night, ringing around North London was the cry from the Arsenal announcer Peter Mujuzi: "Full time here at Arsenal Stadium, one nil to the Arsenal". This was met with one of the loudest cheers of a celebratory night for Gooners everywhere, as their team reached a first Champions League Final for two decades, ousting Atlético Madrid 1-0 on aggregate. This continues to be a team built on a bed rock of clean sheets.

Bukayo Saka's goal right on the cusp of half time enough to ensure that Mikel Arteta's team, as well as officially 16,824 Gooners, but it'll be so many more, are descending upon Budapest at the end of May. In the Champions League this season, the Gunners have conceded only six goals in 14 matches, of which two came during the dead-rubber against Kairat, with Kepa Arrizabalaga donning the gloves.

Thus, David Raya has kept nine clean sheets in the competition, equalling the record held by Kepa's former teammate Édouard Mendy, set as Chelsea triumphed in 2020/21. Only Lennart Karl, Petar Sučić, Robert Andrich and Julián Álvarez from the penalty spot have managed to score past Raya in Europe this season, so could he break that record in the final?

Well, Tuesday night brought about Arsenal's 30th clean sheet of the campaign, doing so from just 59 matches. This is the most the Gunners have accumulated in a season since 1993/94 which, for supporters of a certain vintage, will be exactly what they want to learn.

Back then, George Graham's team won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one of only two European trophies Arsenal have ever hoisted aloft, alongside their Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970. That season is accredited with being the origin of the popular chant still heard to this day "1-0 to the Arsenal", really taking off during the semi-final victory over Paris Saint-Germain at Highbury.

So, as Arteta's modern day outfit, who continued to be very reminiscent of Graham's team, go in search of similar continental glory, could 1-0 to the Arsenal be the theme once more?

Arsenal's 1-0 European wins 1993/94

15 March 1994: Quarter-final second leg. Arsenal 1-0 Torino - Tony Adams 68'.

12 April 1994: Semi-final second leg. Arsenal 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain - Kevin Campbell 7'.

4 May 1994: Final. Parma 0-1 Arsenal - Alan Smith 20'.

Arsenal's 1-0 European wins 2025/26

7 April 2026: Quarter-final first leg. Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal - Kai Havertz 90+1'.

5 May 2026: Semi-final second leg. Arsenal 1-0 Atlético Madrid - Bukayo Saka 44'.

32 years ago, Arsenal won the Cup Winners' Cup by virtue of 1-0 victories in the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and then the final itself at Parken. Alan Smith scored the only goal of the night in København against holders Parma, and a meeting with defending Champions League champions Paris Saint-Germain could be on the cards in Budapest.

This season, Kai Havertz's injury time winner at Estádio José Alvalade was enough to oust Sporting CP in the quarters, before Saka struck the decisive goal to overcome los Colchoneros in the last four. Thus, Gooners will be hoping that history repeats itself at the Puskás Aréna. Four successive Champions League Finals between 2020 and 2023 finished 1-0, while 11 of the last 18 have produced two goals or fewer, so could this year's too? A low-scoring final surely suits the Gunners.

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