The Game of my dreams. It is Arsenal v Real Madrid, again.

19 years ago, on Tuesday 8 March 2006 I was on board a Stena Line ferry from Stranraer to Belfast, on my way to a college golf event at Royal County Down Golf Club, the course which I had caddied at 2 years previously and would caddie at again in the upcoming summer. I was excited to get to RCD again and play competitive golf on the Annesley and Championship Links, but at the same time my mind was firmly on a certain football match, which was taking place hundreds of miles away at Highbury.

This was the Game of my dreams, Arsenal v Real Madrid. The men in Redcurrant against the amazing lilywhites from Madrid. Beckham, Zidane, Ronaldo, Robinho, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Guti, Sergio Ramos, and Iker Casillas, Los Galacticos visiting Highbury in the final ever season of football at our home. Facing them was an Arsenal team just 2 years removed from going unbeaten to win the Premier League, but much changed due to high profile departures, and injuries. Emmanuel Eboue, Phillippe Senderos and Mathieu Flamini featured in the defence, which had lost Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole to injury, behind a midfield which included Aleksandr Hleb, Cesc Fabregas, Gilberto, Jose Antonio Reyes and Freddie Ljungberg, behind the sole striker, Thierry Henry.

We were enduring our worst season under Arsene Wenger in the league at the that time, sitting fifth in the league and in grave danger of missing out on Champions League football for the first time since 1997. Coming into the tie, which began with the first leg at the Bernabeu, we had lost 3 of the previous 5 Premier League games, as well as crashing out of the League Cup in a heartbreaking semi-final to Wigan, at Highbury. We were massive underdogs, but remarkably, led by our inspirational captain, it was ONE NIL TO THE ARSENAL, in the Bernabeu, and we had the advantage heading back to Highbury for the second leg.

Due to the trip to Royal County Down I could not watch the game on television, so my only means of keeping in touch was through texting my family, as smart phones didn't exist and the ferry was not able to show the game as it was on Sky. Some of the most notable games in history have been 0-0 draws, including the Italy v England World Cup Qualifying showdown in Rome in 1997, and the next 90+ minutes proved to be as dramatic as it could possibly be without goals being scored.

We took the game to Real, with Henry and Reyes missing gilt-edged chances to take the game away from them, but Real would hit back at us, with Ronaldo and Zidane both testing Jens Lehmann during the first half. The atmosphere was tense, and then tension would only increase during the second half.

Guti would see his shot come back off the inside of the post, only for Raul's rebound to be spectacularly tipped past the post by a recovering Lehmann. Thierry Henry would force a stunning Casillas save, and Robert Pires would see his long range shot stopped on the line by a back-peddling Roberto Carlos as the game edged towards its conclusion. Even watching the game back nearly 20 years on, it is breathtaking, and this superhuman effort to defeat this incredible Real Madrid team is the undoubted highlight game as an Arsenal fan since 1993.

The scenes of celebration at the final whistle were unforgettable, and the victory was a momentous one on the road to St Denis, and the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Now, nearly two decades on, it is Real Madrid again.

This time it is Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. Modric, and co who we have to face, and this time we are missing Gabriel. Havertz, Jesus, Tomiyasu and White, and have to undertake the task of beating Real Madrid without a striker. We are the underdogs again. We need to evoke the spirit of 2006, and maybe, just maybe, it can be One Nil to The Arsenal, again.

By Matt Hooper, 7 April 2025