Have you ever seen a draw as good as that?

Celebrate
By Boris Mellor
March 14 2006

Ignore any headlines calling this match a stalemate, for there was nothing stale about this magical evening at Highbury, with the Library roaring and willing the team on until the last minute. An evening that saw a roller coaster of a game with a cliff-hanger of a finish.

 There could not have been an Arsenal or Real Madrid fan with any fingernails left at the end of the game. The pitch was crowded with talented players on both sides, but at times the match was like an old-fashioned English cup-tie. This was an end to end game with goalmouth action aplenty, and played at a high tempo throughout.

Perhaps the most dominant feature of the game was the nerves that both teams clearly suffered, in their anxiety moves were rushed, and players harried, not always classic football but exciting nonetheless. For the first 60 minutes it was Arsenal who looked the most likely to score and both Henry and Reyes got into key scoring positions. Reyes probably had the best chance of the whole game but managed to hit the underneath of the bar when it seemed easier to score. True Real had started the most brightly, but after 20 minutes the Arsenal midfield began to grip.

Hleb was magnificent he was clearly the engine house of the Arsenal midfield, one minute helping the defence, the next marshalling the midfield, and finally providing a telling assist. Henry roamed from goalmouth to goalmouth, encouraging the team and yet finding time to turn up in crucial positions. Again and again the defence repelled the invader, but on the 61st minute Madrid began to break through in a very incisive manner. Exploding into life they created chance after chance, and for nearly 10 minutes of frenzied activity Arsenal was seriously under the cosh, it looked as if the Spaniards would score, and indeed as Raul’s shot travelled across the face of the goal it appeared to be going in before Lehmann somehow just brushed it off target. Lehmann had probably made the greatest save of his career.

A lightbulb burns brightest just before it goes out, Lehmann’s save seemed to extinguish Madrid's light for the next 10 minutes Arsenal grasped back control of the game again. Now the Gunners began to roll back Madrid's advance and make chances of their own. Meanwhile Real began to throw more superstars at the problem, with Baptista and Robinho brought on. Yet Arsenal's defence, led by a breathtaking performance by Toure, of whom only one was a first choice defender at the start of the season, did not wilt. And if they ever failed the invisible wall was there to back them up, his tackle on Ronaldo in the area was awesome.

In the last 10 minutes Madrid made more desperate attempts to wrest the game away from Arsenal. However Arsenal even found time to attack, but Henry mainly used his experience to run the clock down by performing his tricks down by the corner flag. This was no stalemate, nil-nil was a winning combination for the Arsenal, it confirmed that they had been the best team in the Bernabeu. Real also proved they could play with spirit and flair. It was a match of high drama, class, imagination, passion and skill. Probably the best nil-nil you will ever see.

(Footnote Arsenal also draw closer to AC Milan's consecutive clean sheet record of seven consecutive clean sheets.)