Arsenal legends got their revenge over their Real Madrid with a penalty shootout victory at the Emirates.
One look at the Arsenal line-up and one comment was :' Unai Emery could do with that team now !'
In their pomp of course he would. Who wouldn't want the sheer class of Robert Pires, the deft touch of Davor Suker, the agility of Jens Lehmann, the power of Ray 'The Romford Pele' Parlour and the combative nature of Nigel Winterburn ?
The passing years have not been kind to one of two. Gym visits are clearly not on the agenda.
But fair play to them. They put their reputations on the line for the most noble of causes – the Arsenal Foundation and the £500,000 from Saturday's 43,500 crowd will go to the club's Save the Children programme. All worthwhile.
And while the limbs may have been crying for respite after an hour, personal pride is a huge motivation.
These players were born and bred to win. And it showed. No-one wanted to lose – not a tackle, not a chance to show they still possess immense technique.
And if this was just an exhibition of All our Yesterdays, then someone forgot to tell Winterburn and Claude Makelele.
Winterburn has the Wimbledon Crazy Gang DNA and it showed with his tackling, finger-pointing and enthusiasm to win.
Makelele ? Well one skirmish in the first half with Pires led to a verbal contretemps between the pair. Chelsea fans would have recognised that Makelele. Pires certainly did.
For obvious reasons, the tempo of the game was at times somewhat pedestrian.
But for the younger fans at the Emirates, there was evidence of what their fathers had told them of previous Arsenal teams. And that they were telling the truth.
Lehmann was outstanding. The goalkeeper does not appear to have one pound of excess baggage and is as athletic as ever.
Pires retains that gift of an immaculate touch and an eye for the incisive pass. Tomas Rosicky can still glide over the turf he once graced.
More than one participant on either side looked as though they could still compete at a decent level.
Jeremie Aliadiere for one. Lehmann also. And Matthew Upson looked comfortable enough in central defence.
Of course the edge was missing where it mattered – in the penalty area. For the likes of Raul, Fernando Morientes and Pires, the ambition was there but the legs weren't listening.
Parlour made his name as a rampaging wide midfield player. A holding role is now more appropriate.
It was not an affair short of goalmouth action – just the final touch to break the resistance of Lehmann and Real's Cesar Sanchez and his second half replacement Pedro Contretras.
Nothing tippy-tappy about the match. That just doesn't happen with proven winners.
It even got to manager David O'Leary in the dying minutes. The prospect of losing doesn't come easy to him either.
Appropriately perhaps, the match went to penalties.
Lehmann saved one penalty and then scored the decisive one as Arsenal won 5-3.
A German the star of a penalty shoot-out. Who would have thought it.
The wisecracks came early.
One look at the Arsenal line-up and one comment was :' Unai Emery could do with that team now !'
In their pomp of course he would. Who wouldn't want the sheer class of Robert Pires, the deft touch of Davor Suker, the agility of Jens Lehmann, the power of Ray 'The Romford Pele' Parlour and the combative nature of Nigel Winterburn ?
The passing years have not been kind to one of two. Gym visits are clearly not on the agenda.
But fair play to them. They put their reputations on the line for the most noble of causes – the Arsenal Foundation and the £500,000 from yesterday's 43,500 crowd will go to the club's Save the Children programme.
All worthwhile.
And while the limbs may have been crying for respite after an hour, personal pride is a huge motivation.
These players were born and bred to win. And it showed. No-one wanted to lose – not a tackle, not a chance to show they still possess immense technique.
And if this was just an exhibition of All our Yesterdays, then someone forgot to tell Winterburn and Claude Makelele.
Winterburn has the Wimbledon Crazy Gang DNA and it showed with his tackling, finger-pointing and enthusiasm to win.
Makelele ? Well one skirmish in the first half with Pires led to a verbal contretemps between the pair. Chelsea fans would have recognised that Makelele. Pires certainly did.
For obvious reasons, the tempo of the game was at times somewhat pedestrian.
But for the younger fans at the Emirates, there was evidence of what their fathers had told them of previous Arsenal teams. And that they were telling the truth.
Lehmann was outstanding. The goalkeeper does not appear to have one pound of excess baggage and is as athletic as ever.
Pires retains that gift of an immaculate touch and an eye for the incisive pass. Tomas Rosicky can still glide over the turf he once graced.
More than one participant on either side looked as though they could still compete at a decent level.
Jeremie Aliadiere for one. Lehmann also. And Matthew Upson looked comfortable enough in central defence.
Of course the edge was missing where it mattered – in the penalty area. For the likes of Raul, Fernando Morientes and Pires, the ambition was there but the legs weren't listening.
Parlour made his name as a rampaging wide midfield player. A holding role is now more appropriate.
It was not an affair short of goalmouth action – just the final touch to break the resistance of Lehmann and Real's Cesar Sanchez and his second half replacement Pedro Contretras.
Nothing tippy-tappy about the match. That just doesn't happen with proven winners.
It even got to manager David O'Leary in the dying minutes. The prospect of losing doesn't come easy to him either.
Appropriately perhaps, the match went to penalties. Lehmann saved one penalty and then scored the decisive one as Arsenal won 5-3.
A German the star of a penalty shoot-out. Who would have thought it.