When will the Gunners win their first Champions League trophy?
Look away now, Gunners fans – this statistic will not sit too easily ahead of another European campaign.
Arsenal have won the most Champions League match wins without ever actually winning the competition!
Although Gunners fans often boast that they have been in the competition for 19 seasons in a row, they have yet to win the tournament unlike rivals Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
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Let’s take a look at the top five teams who have won the most Champions League games but haven’t picked up Ol’ Big Ears.
5. PSV Eindhoven – 30 games
In the Netherlands, PSV are a powerhouse. They have won the Eredivisie 21 times and are responsible for bringing the careers of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam to life. However, they have yet to win the Champions League despite winning 30 matches. It is getting harder and harder for Dutch sides to compete in Europe because they lose all their best players to Spain and England so it may be a while yet before PSV end their wait for a Champions League trophy.
4. Olympiakos – 32 games
Although Olympiakos are probably the biggest side in Greece, it isn’t a surprise that they haven’t won the giant trophy yet. Their league isn’t as strong as the Premier League or Serie A so they can’t sign the best players meaning they are never likely to win Europe’s biggest prize.
3. Valencia – 41
The Spanish side went through a phase in the early 2000s where they were one of Europe’s best sides. They regularly competed with the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and even reached two Champions League finals. Unfortunately, as the power of Real and Barcelona grew, Valencia faded as they became more financially unstable. Although they are still one of the better teams in Spain, they aren’t at the level of competing for big trophies again.
2. Lyon – 50
For many years, Lyon were the top dogs in France. That reflected in the Champions League, when they reached the latter stages of the competition several times during the mid 2000s. However, Paris St German and AS Monaco have usurped them and are now the biggest clubs in France, meaning Lyon’s powerbase has shrunk. They are struggling to compete at domestic level which means they rarely reach the back end of European competitions now.
1. Arsenal – 71
Despite several domestic honours, Arsene Wenger’s side have under performed on the European stage. They have reached one final in 2006 but lost it to a Ronaldinho inspired Barcelona. Since then, they have regularly reach the second round or the quarter final stage of the competition but have failed to reach another final and rarely grace the semi-finals. Arsenal should have won the Champions League during Wenger’s reign and that is probably the biggest regret of his career at the Emirates.
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