From Kyle Hartman – new info/stats for you
Myles,
Long time no chat. All is well here in Texas.
Was thinking about your comments about Arsenal in Europe, and wanted to see how Wenger stacked up. (Note, I omitted all 1-and-done entries like APOEL, Shakhtar Donesk, etc).
Below is the past 10 years in the Champions League (right after the 05-06 Final run versus Barcelona).
Some thoughts to share:
1. Barcelona’s 10 years of quarter-finals – this is not a dynasty, just a decade of excellence.
2. Madrid missed the QF from 05-06 until 09-10; but when they are in the competition, they are ruthless – qualifying for QF is a certainty for SF (proven again by Wolfsburg yesterday)
3. Arsenal’s past 10 years in Europe are either Schalke (+1 Quarterfinal) or slightly better than PSG’s three QFs (yet all three in the past five years of this 10-year window)
4. Arsenal’s competition is in the second tier of European football alongside Italian greats (minus Juve, who have bounced back from Calicopoli quite well)
5. The good news for Arsenal fans? The top tier of Europe includes Chelsea/Liverpool (not in Europe next year), Manchester United/Milan (doubtful to make it).
P.S. One quick aside : PSG’s 3 QF is far superior to Man City’s 1QF/1SF
| Quarter | Semifinal | Final | |
| Barcelona | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Bayern | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| Man U | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Chelsea | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| Madrid | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Liverpool | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Milan | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Inter | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Juve | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Dortmund | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Atletico | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Arsenal | 3 | 1 | |
| PSG | 3 | ||
| Roma | 2 | ||
| Schalke | 2 | 1 | |
| Porto | 2 | ||
| Lyon | 1 | 1 | |
| Man City | 1 | 1 |