In the autumn of 1996 Arsenal appointed current boss Arsene Wenger, who originally hailed from Alsace-Lorraine, an area in the far east of what is now France but which has long been disputed territory between the French and the Germans, the latter annexing the area after the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 and the creation of a united German speaking state by Kaiser Wilhelm for the first time since the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire during the rise of France in the Napoleonic period at the start of the century. Wenger’s Germanic sounding surname possibly indicates that Arsene has some sort of German ancestry.

Glenn Hoddle, who played under Wenger at Monaco in the 1980s claims that Wenger has: ‘a German mind, which is very disciplined. He prepares a guideline on how the club should function on the playing side and how individuals should work, and, if anyone steps out of line, he has a ruthless side to him. That's when the German side comes out’. His father, Alphonse Wenger, like many young men from Alsace, was conscripted into the German army by force and had to fight for the Nazis on the eastern front. Arsene Wenger in his youth, being so close to the German border, became fascinated with German clubs as his father often took him to see German teams play. His favourite side had been Borussia Mönchengladbach, which is ironic as the first game in which Wenger was present (although not officially in charge) came against his boyhood club.

Ten weeks on from Germany’s victorious Euro ‘96 campaign, Borussia Mönchengladbach visited Highbury with Arsenal riding high at the top of the Premiership, however the Gunners crashed to a 2-3 home defeat with goals from Polish striker Andrzej Juskowiak, Stefan Effenburg and Stefan Passlack. Arsenal’s goals came from Paul Merson and a late strike from Ian Wright giving Arsenal hope for the second leg. Away in Germany, Borussia Mönchengladbach again took the lead through an Andrzej Juskowiak goal, with Ian Wright pulling one back before half time. Paul Merson equalled the aggregate scores through a sizzling thirty yard strike, though because of the away goals rule Arsenal needed another goal.

The Gunners had got back into the game playing a 3-5-2 formation, however It was claimed by caretaker boss Pat Rice after the game that despite not being officially in charge yet, Wenger suggested ‘one or two changes... one of them was to go to a back four and add extra width to the attack and of course I took his advice’. It would later be revealed that in fact Wenger, accompanied by David Dein, had walked into the Arsenal dressing room to lay down the tactical changes. Nigel Winterburn would later state: ‘we were told that he was coming to the game but would just watch, wasn’t going to be involved. But he came down at half-time and rearranged the team’.

For many of the players this was their first meeting with the new boss. Tony Adams, who just three weeks prior announced his problems with alcoholism, claimed that: ‘the decision he made at half time surprised me and the way he did it annoyed me as well. When I saw him go into the changing rooms and take control of the team I couldn’t believe it…I wanted to win this UEFA Cup tie the way we had planned in the build-up’. Worst of all, the plan didn’t work. In the second half, goals from Stefan Effenberg (who by this point must have been re-christened by many Arsenal fans as Effin’ Stefanberg) and another for Andrzej Juskowiak meant a 2-3 defeat on the night for Arsenal (4-6 on aggregate). Tony Adams would add: ‘he changed the system and we ended up losing. What was even more irritating, was that at the end of the match Arsene didn’t say anything to us. Not one word. He left with David Dein, and there we all were waiting for some kind of explanation. I was really angry, but who could I take it out on? I turned to Pat Rice and yelled at him. To be honest, I was spitting feathers and gave him both barrels, even though it wasn’t his fault’.

One piece of criticism on the performance came from Michael Hart of the Evening Standard, who stated: ‘what is worrying in losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach is that at their best under George Graham and his assistant Stewart Houston, Arsenal met a lot of accomplished teams in Europe – Paris St. Germain, Parma, Auxerre and Sampdoria. They were probably technically superior but Arsenal were able to beat them all because of the defensive discipline. That was not the case against Borussia and Wenger will need to address that problem if Arsenal are able to get back into the big time’. Further trophies were of course won under Wenger, however it’s fair to say Arsenal arguably haven’t been as difficult to beat in Europe under Wenger as they were between 1993 and 1995 under his predecessors. Conversely, European qualification was an occurrence far more regular under Wenger than any of his predecessors and consequently this brought far more frequent meetings against German opposition than previously.

For the first two seasons under Wenger in the Champions League however, Arsenal were eliminated in the first group phase. In 1999/2000 Arsenal were one of the first sides to qualify for the UEFA Cup as a result of failure in the Champions League group phase. Along the way to the 1999/2000 Final Arsenal were to meet German side Werder Bremen in the quarter finals in March. Arsenal won 2-0 at Highbury with goals from Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg. In the second leg Arsenal turned in an impressive performance with a goal from Thierry Henry and a hat-trick for Ray Parlour, running out 4-2 winners on the night, 6-2 on aggregate.

It was also around this period in which Arsenal signed their first German player, squad member Stefan Malz who lasted just two seasons. Here is Stefan Malz’s only goal for Arsenal at St. James’s Park against Newcastle @0.33 (His other goal in Arsenal shirt if I recall rightly was quite an impressive strike in Lee Dixon’s testimonial against a ‘galactico’ laden Real Madrid side which included Roberto Carlos and Steve McManaman among others, who went on to win the Champions League that season). Malz went on to sign for Kaiserslautern in 2001. In Malz’s last season at Highbury Arsenal hosted Bayern Munich, back in the days of the Second group phase of the Champions League. Arsenal played some blistering football, racing into a two goal with through Thierry Henry and Kanu however conceded very soon after the second with a goal from Michael Tarnat resulting from slack defending. Bayern’s equaliser came from an excellent Mehmet Scholl free kick, the match ending 2-2. In the return fixture at the old Olympic Stadium Bayern defeated Arsenal 0-1 through a goal by Brazillian international Elber, however the Gunners qualified for the Quarter Final where they were eliminated by Valencia, whom Bayern met in the final in the San Siro and beat on penalties.

In the first group phase the following season Arsenal met Schalke 04 at Highbury winning 3-2, with goals for Freddie Ljungberg and two for Thierry Henry. In the return fixture however Schalke 04 defeated Arsenal 1-3, Arsenal’s goal coming from Sylvain Wiltord. In the second group phase Arsenal went on to meet Bayer Leverkusen, drawing the first match away 1-1 with a goal from Robert Pires. Back at Highbury however Arsenal thumped Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 with goals from Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. Arsenal sadly failed to progress through the second group phase that season after failing to beat bottom side in the group - Juventus – away from home. Despite their thumping from Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen progressed all the way to the final, however they were to lose 1-2 to Real Madrid at Hampden Park in May.

In 2002/03, yet again Arsenal would face German opposition in the group phase, this time against Borussia Dortmund winning 2-0 in September with goals from Dennis Bergkamp and Freddie Ljungberg. The return fixture at the end of October however resulted in a 1-2 defeat for Arsenal. The Gunners took the lead through a Thierry Henry free kick scored against future Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Dortmund equalled with an own goal from Gilberto Silva and scoring the winning goal for Dortmund from a penalty was the little Mozart himself, Tomas Rosicky. By the time of Arsenal’s next fixture with German opposition, Jens Lehmann had become an Arsenal player and in the process becoming Arsenal’s first German cult hero.

Arsenal met Bayern Munich in the Quarter Finals of the 2004/05 Champions League, losing 1-3 in Bavaria with two goals from Pizarro and one from Bosnian international Hasan Salihamidzic. An 88th minute goal from Kolo Toure gave Arsenal hope, however in the return fixture at Highbury Arsenal could only muster a 1-0 win with a goal from Thierry Henry and faced elimination. At the end of that season however, Jens Lehmann’s heroics secured Arsenal the FA Cup in a penalty shootout win over Man. Utd. By the time of Arsenal’s next meeting with German opposition against SV Hamburg in September 2006 Lehmann’s former Dortmund team mate Tomas Rosicky had joined Arsenal, scoring his first goal for the club with a tremendous thirty yard shot adding to Gilberto Silva’s opener as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners. In the return match Arsenal fell behind to a goal by future Spurs player Rafael Van Der Vaart however Arsenal replied through goals from Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue and Julio Baptista giving them a 3-1 win.

It would be another five years before Arsenal played a German side in a competitive game, however in 2008 SV Hamburg - despite not taking on Arsenal during the competition – won the Emirates Cup on the back of a 3-0 victory over Juventus on Day Two. Also, in August 2011 Arsenal would take on 1FC Koln in a pre-season friendly in which new signing Gervinho scored two well taken goals, giving a lot of optimism around our new Ivorian signing. Sadly, Gervinho never worked out at Arsenal and allegedly was bullied at the club with Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere and Carl Jenkinson receiving warnings for calling him ‘Retardinho’, however against 1FC Koln that moniker would have been more befitting of the latter who scored an incredible own goal from over thirty yards, with the match finishing in a 2-1 win for Arsenal.

At the end of that month Arsenal would sign German Centre Half Per Mertesacker on deadline day from Werder Bremen. The following month Arsenal would return to Germany to play new Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund side in the Champions League group phase, the game ended in a 1-1 draw with Robin Van Persie on the scoresheet for Arsenal. At the end of November Dortmund came to Arsenal, this time the Gunners would run out 2-1 winners with two goals from Robin Van Persie. The 2011/12 season turned out to be Robin Van Persie’s annus mirabilis at Arsenal, however RVP was to walk out on Arsenal for Old Trafford just ahead of the 2012/13 season. His final game in an Arsenal shirt came with a brief substitute appearance in a pre-season friendly with 1FC Koln, from whom the Gunners had signed one of his intended replacements, the Polish-German striker Lukas Podolski. Arsenal won 4-0 with goals from Thomas Vermaelen, two for Lukas Podolski and Gervinho scoring against 1FC Koln again twelve months on from his debut.

In the Champions League group phase for 2012/13 Arsenal would be drawn against Schalke 04. On the eve of the game in an article for the Online Gooner I had identified German Football as the mode to follow with regard to fan treatment and forewarned of their rise in the Champions League. Twenty Four hours later, Schalke 04 realised the prophecy defeating Arsenal 0-2 at home. In the away fixture in Gelsenkirchen Arsenal took a two goal lead with goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, however were pulled back with goals from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Farfan resulting in a 2-2 draw. Arsenal got through the group stages, however their Champions League run came to an end again in the Round of 16 with Bayern Munich inflicting a 1-3 defeat on Arsenal with goals from Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller and Marijo Mandzukic. In the away leg, rather astonishingly Arsenal were one goal away from eliminating Bayern as the Gunners ran out 2-0 winners on the night with goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny. That year’s Champions League final was an all-German affair, with Bayern Munich meeting Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. The latter winning 2-1 with a last minute goal from former Chelsea man Arjen Robben. That calendar year Arsenal were only one of two sides to defeat Bayern, the other being Manchester City.

Arsenal were to be drawn against runners up Dortmund in the group phase of the 2014/15 Champions League, however would go a goal down to a Henrik Mkhitaryan strike, though would pull one back from a Olivier Giroud equaliser. Full points however went to Dortmund with a Robert Lewandowski goal meaning a 1-2 defeat for Arsenal. The Gunners however would get their revenge with a 1-0 win in Dortmund with a goal from Aaron Ramsey, leading to the travelling Arsenal fans to sing in recognition of Germany’s cheap admission fees: ‘your seats cost 50p, but you can’t stop Ramsey’. Arsenal had beaten both of the 2013 Champions League finalists away within a calendar year over 90 minutes, however this season Bayern would be their undoing in the second phase once again.

Arsenal were thrilling at times during the first half, however a golden opportunity would be lost through a Mesut Ozil penalty miss. Arguably, Arsenal’s season was reinvigorated by his £42 Million deadline day capture in August. Here however his penalty miss was a turning point in the game, as was the sending off of goalkeeper Wojcech Szczesney. Bayern inflicted a 0-2 defeat on Arsenal with goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller. If there was one positive to come out of the game it would be a German football correspondent repeating the words of the Arsenal’s fans’ Per Mertesecker chant live and without warning on Sky Sports News. The return leg finished 1-1, meaning another Second phase elimination for the Arsenal.

In 2014/15 Arsenal drew Borussia Dortmund again in the group phase, however kicked off their Champions League campaign in underwhelming fashion losing 0-2 with goals from Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Dortmund. After blowing a three goal lead at home to Anderlecht, Arsenal were under pressure to turn in an improved performance and achieved a 2-0 win over Dortmund confirming qualification to the second phase with goals from Yaya Sanogo and Alexis Sanchez.

Arsenal once again have made life difficult for themselves in the Champions’ League group phase, with zero points out of six and upcoming back to back fixtures against Bayern Munich. Wenger’s Arsenal have in recent seasons achieved backs to the wall away wins over 90 minutes against the only two sides to have won a Bundesliga title so far during the 2010s. It looks like Wenger will have to repeat this feat again this season if Arsenal are to be spared the indignity of Thursday night Europa Cup fixtures and first round Champions League group phase elimination for the first time since the twentieth century.

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