Inter 1-5 Arsenal: Can Gunners take inspiration from great European night on Wednesday?

Inter Milan are up next for Arsenal in the Champions League and it marks a good time to revisit the last clash between these two sides – a night which ranks among the most famous wins in Gunners’ history.

Back in the 2003/04 campaign (when away victories were more forthcoming…), Arsenal travelled to Milan with their UCL dreams hanging by a thread; they had claimed just one win from four matches and another loss here would have meant group-stage elimination.

That fate seemed inevitable at the San Siro. This was not a supreme Inter team and one that'd finish fourth in Serie A, but the Nerazzurri had run riot in north London only two months prior and claimed a huge 3-0 win, with their incredible first-half blitz rounded off by an Obafemi Martins strike on 41 minutes (whatever happened to him...).

Inter 1-5 Arsenal: Revisiting one of the greatest European nights in club history

Yet Arsenal more than held their own in Italy – even without the aviophobic (and former Inter star) Dennis Bergkamp – and opened the scoring midway through the first half, with Thierry Henry guiding a neat effort past the Inter goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.

The lead lasted just eight minutes as Christian Vieiri equalised via a deflected shot that looped freakishly over Jens Lehmann, but our advantage was restored on 49 minutes by Freddie Ljungberg, with the Swede getting on the end of an Henry pass to fire home from close range.   

Even at 2-1, Inter held an advantage thanks to their head-to-head record in the group, but that all changed after a late home collapse. Henry led the way again, spearheading a quick breakaway from an Inter corner before leaving Javier Zanetti utterly bamboozled and sending a low drive into the far corner.

Two goals in two minutes – from Edu and Robert Pires – then sealed an extraordinary 5-1 win and turned the group on its head; Arsenal putting themselves in pole position for a top-spot finish and duly achieving it with a 2-0 triumph over Lokomotiv Moscow two weeks later.  

Can Mikel Arteta's Gunners take inspiration from that historic night?

On Wednesday night, the Gunners will meet Inter for just the third time ever and the stakes are not quite as high now as they were in 2003. Both teams have secured seven points from their opening three league phase games with four fixtures left on the docket after this duel. There's plenty of time to recover from a negative result.

However, several bad results of late mean a big performance is needed in Milan and Arsenal must get back on track ahead of a weekend trip to Chelsea, while difficult ties to come against Sporting Lisbon and AS Monaco mean we can ill-afford to drop points and risk a sub-eighth place finish in the league standings.

Perhaps a replication of *that* Henry display is too much to ask, or five goals may lie beyond the reach of this somewhat goal-shy Arsenal team – especially against a (typically) strong Inter backline. But it is crucial that Mikel Arteta at least gets a reaction from his squad after recent disappointments and steadies the ship before it capsizes completely.

As in 2003, we are once again in choppy waters and only the revived spirit of that magical night in Milan can help us to turn the tide.  

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