Henry Reigns In Spain
Thierry Henry struck just seconds after half-time to give Arsenal a stunning 1-0 Champions League victory over a lacklustre Real Madrid in the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.
Henry shrugged off several challenges to steer his shot past Iker Casillas as Arsenal became the first British club to beat Real in the Spanish capital.
Aresnal thoroughly deserved their victory, with Henry and Jose Antonio Reyes missing good chances.
Aresenal’s display was in sharp contrast to their Premiership struggles as they dominated Real for long periods and left the Galacticos in the shade to take a giant step towards the last eight.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hopes this historic victory will persuade Henry to pledge his future to the club.
“Hopefully the quality that our young team has shown will persuade Thierry to stay,” he said.
“I think this will help convince him he has a future here because the young boys have shown they can produce the results he wants.”
Of his team’s performance he said: “We started well and that may have made Real insecure. I’m happy in every department.”
“In fact, my only regret, if there is one, is that we didn’t add one or two more goals.”
Real coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro admitted Arsenal were worthy winners and said: “We suffered an important setback out there, but they played a great game.”
“We never really managed to find any clarity or precision in midfield and didn’t show our usual personality.”
“It certainly was not our best performance, but we still have a chance of getting through.”
Madrid’s England captain David Beckham said: “I knew after five minutes we were going to lose, but we have got away with it, we could have lost by more.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t work hard and tackle back. I’m bitterly disappointed.”
It leaves Beckham with the prospect of completing a third season at Real Madrid without winning any silverware.
“It’s going to be hard. I have played at Highbury a number of times and I know how difficult it is,” he said.
“But it’s possible - we’ve got the players. If we get one goal and then two, we’re through, but we have made it very hard for ourselves.”
