BBC SPORT | ARSENAL | Arsenal's Euro dream ends

Juventus 1-0 Arsenal
E-mail your reaction to Football Talk

Arsenal saw their Champions League campaign end in the strangest of circumstances as Bayer Leverkusen's victory in Spain pushed the Gunners to third in Group D.

The English side wasted numerous chances against Juventus before going down to a Marcelo Zalayeta strike, while Leverkusen overtook them by beating Deportivo La Coruna 3-1.

It is unfortunate to lose because of the way we played - we battled well and showed the right attitude

Arsene Wenger

Arsenal struggled to find any rhythm in front of under 9,000 spectators at the Stadio delle Alpi, all the time aware that the real action was taking place in Spain.

The fact that Thierry Henry missed his second penalty in a week ultimately had no bearing on Arsenal's fate, but summed up a miserable evening for the Londoners.

Already eliminated, Juventus fielded a weakened team as they looked to preserve the likes of Alessandro del Piero, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, and Pavel Nedved for the Serie A title race.

Michele Paramatti of Juventus chases Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg
Ljungberg could not make the breakthrough

So it was little surprise that the home side failed to get going in the early stages, but Arsenal clearly found it difficult to raise their game with such a lack of atmosphere.

After 20 minutes the game had taken on the feel of a testimonial, and Henry may have been caught unaware when presented with a golden opportunity to open the scoring.

The Frenchman got ahead of Mark Iuliano to collect Freddie Ljungberg's cross, but put his first-time shot well wide of the right-hand post with only Fabian Carini to beat.

Juventus made occasional inroads but it took until the 32nd minute for the home side to seriously threaten, Tomas Guzman firing wide when unmarked on the edge of the area.

We are disappointed but we lost it at home against Deportivo - that was the night for us to go through and we lost it

David Seaman

The half looked to be drawing to an uneventful end when Arsenal wasted another great chance.

Pires was sent through by Henry moments before the break but the winger saw his finish slide past the post.

As news from Spain that Leverkusen were ahead was reaching the stadium, Henry missed the chance to raise Arsenal's spirits.

In the 50th minute he was judged to have been brought down by Cristian Zenoni in the box, and bearing in mind his miss against Deportivo it was a brave move for Henry to step up to the spot.

Unfortunately that bravery was not rewarded as Carini guessed correctly and dived to the right to parry the penalty.

Thierry Henry sees Fabian Carini save his penalty
Henry missed a second-half penalty

Further chances came and went for Ljungberg and Vieira as Arsenal continued to dominate, without ever looking convinced they could make progress in the competition.

Henry, clearly desperate to impress against his former club, was guilty of wasting another great chance, shooting wide after bursting into the area before Juve took a shock lead.

Having made almost no impression in the second half, the Italian side won a corner in the 75th minute.

Marcelo Zalayeta climbed highest at the back post and his powerful header flew over Lee Dixon on the line and into the net, leaving David Seaman with no chance.

The Gunners made one final push, but when Carini pulled off a magnificent save to deny Ljungberg it was clear that Arsenal would not be joining Liverpool and Manchester United in the last eight.

Juventus: Carini, Zenoni, Birindelli, Iuliano, Paramatti (Pessotto 24), Zambrotta (Amoruso 70), Conte, Maresca, Davids, Guzman (Pericard 61), Zalayeta.
Subs Not Used: Rampulla, Ferrara, Scardina, Maietta.

Booked: Davids, Pessotto.

Arsenal: Seaman, Lauren (Cole 82), Campbell, Luzhny, Dixon, Pires, Edu (Wiltord 79), Vieira, Ljungberg, Henry, Kanu.
Subs Not Used: Wright, Grimandi, Inamoto, Tavlaridis, Aliadiere.

Booked: Vieira.

Attendance: 8,562

Referee: K Nilsson (Sweden)


	^^ Back to top
	Front Page \| Football \| Cricket \| Rugby Union \| Rugby League \| Tennis \| Golf \| Motorsport \| Boxing \| Athletics \| Other Sports \| Sports Talk \| In Depth \| Photo Galleries \| TV & Radio \| BBC Pundits \| Question of Sport \| Funny Old Game ------------------------------------------------------------ BBC News >> \| BBC Weather >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMII \| News Sources \| Privacy